Divers Find Coral Reef in Philippines Littered with Face Masks
Evan James
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Discarded masks littering the ocean have created an environmental impact that almost no one is discussing, save the BBC.
A nearly three-minute video posted to the BBC website shows divers encountering discarded masks on coral reefs located off the city of Anilao.
One diver named Shala said that “when I saw that blue PPE mask I honestly felt sad and guilty about it because I’ve used a blue PPE mask that’s easy to throw away.”
The other diver, Oliver, said that “just ten minutes into the dive we saw around 10-12 masks and we never had that before.”
The divers are collecting masks and other discarded items to be sent to the landfill, though some of it could end up back in the ocean because of inadequate waste management.
“And that’s a problem because polymers inside the surgical masks are breaking down into microplastics, easily consumed by marine wildlife and the coral reefs that nurture them,” said the BBC’s Howard Johnson.
“You wouldn’t want to have the fishes that you are going to eat on your table having the PPE inside them,” said Oliver.
The Asian Development Bank says that during the peak infection rate of COVID-19, the capital city of Manila may have been generating “up to 280 tons of extra medical waste per day.”
What’s significantly better than tossing masks into the sea? Burning them. That’s what both adults and children were doing this past weekend at the Idaho State Capitol:
Hundreds of Idahoans voiced their incendiary views towards mandatory mask mandates and the hospitalization of American society in a “Burn the Mask” rally on Saturday at the State Capitol, with children and adults alike participating in the burning of face masks in an empty oil drum.
Idahoans touted their state’s tradition of rural freedom and self-determination, tiring of the nanny authoritarian culture that has rapidly grown in coastal elitists states. Many of the demonstrators identified themselves as political refugees to Idaho, having left California, Oregon and other states with a “no tolerance” policy towards traditional American liberties.
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