Not even slightly surprising given the shear volume of trash on most beaches and reefs in the world. As any fishermen, diver, or snorkeler knows, the ocean is l

Not even slightly surprising given the shear volume of trash on most beaches and reefs in the world. As any fishermen, diver, or snorkeler knows, the ocean is literally full of garbage, and the problem has gotten exponentially worse over the last few decades. Tourists often don't see it because most tourist destinations have workers (or volunteers) raking up the daily trash load from the sand in the early mornings before everyone else wakes up, but if you get up at say 4am and take a peak outside your hotel, whether in the Caribbean or most pacific islands, you'll see the people raking the beaches for trash. And then if you travel to developing Asia in particular, you see why it's such a problem to begin with. There is trash literally everywhere, their landscapes, streets, creeks, rivers, are like a never ending open garbage dump or landfill. Not that the rest of the developing world is much better, and frankly much of the USA is increasingly full of garbage, litter, and detritus too, though not nearly to the extent of China, India, Indonesia, Philippines, etc. But just yesterday I watched a group of US tourists visiting a stunning scenic vista and proceed to toss multiple bags of fast food wrappers and garbage out of their Range Rover, they must think the litter magically takes care of itself.