This is the grievous story behind one of the photographs put down into the2017 Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition .
The catch of a seahorse holding onto a Q - tip with its can was taken by Californian nature lensman Justin Hofman in December 2016 . He was chair an excursion in Indonesia when he follow across the tiny critter and its less - than - raw find . Even though it earned him a spot on the finalist tilt , he told theWashington Posthe wishes the photo “ did n’t exist ” .
Hofman was near Sumbawa in the Lesser Sunda Islands Chain , Indonesia , when a workfellow bespeak out a seahorse barely 3.8 centimeters ( 1.5 inches ) in length .
As the wind started to pick up , it latched onto a objet d’art of ocean grass , he told theWashington Postin a headphone interview . " Eventually more and more codswallop and rubble started to move through , " he explain .
Hofman could smell and taste the water pollution . Meanwhile , the sea horse lose its hold on the sea smoke and impound itself to a piece of moldable base before be active on to the cotton swob .
Now , he want the world to know , telling theWashington Posthe feel a responsibility " to verify it gets to as many eye as potential . "
One just manner to do that is to enter a high - visibility contest . So he submitted the photo to the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competitor , which is held annually by the Natural History Museum in London .
Areportin 2015 find that close to 8 million tonnes of plastic find its way to the sea every year . Indonesia is one of the worst offenders and is responsible for for 10 percent of ocean charge plate wastefulness , according to that same survey .
Tragically , wildlife frequently err itfor foodand , with pliant pollution foretell tooutweighfish by 2050,“death by plastic”is likely to occur more often . It ’s not just the seas around Indonesia that have been involve , plastic particles have been find in nautical wight across the world , from those tarry on the seabed to those all the fashion up in theArcticcircle .
" This photograph serves as an parable for the current and future body politic of our ocean . What kind of future are we creating ? How can your actions shape our planet ? " adds Hofman .
[ H / T : Washington Post ]
