I just returned from a fabulous trip to the Mayan Riviera. It was as beautiful as it sounds, pristine beaches, clam seas, warm winds, and strong drinks. The Mayans sure had a beautiful playground. I was fortunate enought to be one of the few on earth to camp at a marine preserve called PezMaya.
PezMaya is not easy to get to, we had to ride the bus for an hour, hike for over an hour and take a 2 hour boat ride to the island. (We started just north of Cancun) Once we arrived, it was breathtaking, and obvious that no humans lived there. There were no people, no mariachi bands, and no electricity or running water. We were on untouched land. Ahhh how peaceful it was, you could almost forget that anyone else existed outside this little piece of paradise, except for one big reminder... the piles and piles of trash that have washed up all over the island! It was truly unbelievable how much crap was all over the place. Everything from beer cans to clothes to large pieces of benches, I was in shock. How did all this trash get out here? Did other campers bother to hike all that way to this private island carrying this stuff? I asked the head of the preserve, who happened to be a friend of ours, the answer was not all that surprising. Cruise ships. Of course! Yes, all that stuff that people chuck off the boat ends up on gorgeous land like PezMaya.
I have heard it before, that there is a giant island of garbage floating in the pacific that measures twice the size of Texas. That trash is not all from cruise ships of course, but with hundreds of cruises sailing our seas, the garbage and sewage alone (I won't get into chemicals spills, and smog) is credited to polluting pristine beaches across the world. From beaches in California to Malaysia, to Cuba, cruise ships trash is a major issue.
Luckily, the EPA is making an effort to fight this. Just this month the EPA now requires cruises ships to have a clean water permit. Check it out, click here.
Have you had any similar experiences? Please share with us in the comment section.
December 30th, 2008 at 7:53 pm
Who is dropping these things from the Cruise ships? Is it the passengers or the staff (dropping the passengers garbage)?
December 31st, 2008 at 2:51 am
That's why, I'm always thought that human beings are pests in this situation, as they only know how to destroy the mother nature...
December 31st, 2008 at 4:33 am
That is indeed big problem that beautiful and lonely islands have. I guess it is very hard to fight that problem, but i am glad to see that there is moving towards from some organizations to solve it.
December 31st, 2008 at 9:36 am
oh, this is so sad. just when you thought you set your foot on a untouched and lovely island, you instead found the result of rampant disposal of garbage at sea.
i just hope people will have a heart to do something to solve it.
December 31st, 2008 at 1:04 pm
that's horrible..
January 1st, 2009 at 8:45 am
Hi. I have also heard about the giant island of garbage floating in the pacific. I was so dismayed upon hearing this. People are enjoying the sea by their cruise but all they did was to left garbage. They didn't think that if they pollute the sea, they can't cruise anymore with all the giant garbage floating around. Sigh...I wonder when can these people realize that they're not helping Mother Earth anymore?
January 1st, 2009 at 10:26 pm
People easily think that the ocean can be a big garbage bin. They think the ocean is to huge than their garbage will be eaten by bacteria,fish or will be artificial coral for sea living.
January 3rd, 2009 at 12:27 pm
awful. the people involved in this should be executed.
January 3rd, 2009 at 5:49 pm
nice article and i interested with this story
January 5th, 2009 at 10:52 am
Never heard about it , and never been in such kind of situation ,
but I bet that there are true paradise place on the earth
January 22nd, 2009 at 4:19 am
From this i very well understood they are not concern about global warming. hope some organization get involve to solve this issue....
August 31st, 2009 at 2:32 pm
This is terrible. People need to be more responsible for the environment