Mermaid Protest: Activist dressed as Mermaid lies on Beach filled with Plastic

The new year started on a disturbing note for natives living near Bali's famed beaches. As tonnes of plastic waste washed on shore, leaving them busy in cleanliness drives. In the middle of all this, the internet has garnered the unusual 'mermaid' protest. One woman is trying to bring more attention to the garbage issue on media platforms.

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1.What did the activist do?

The woman wearing a mermaid costume was seen in a series of photos sitting on the beach. She was engulfed by a massive pile of plastic waste. This was showing the sad state of Indonesia's beaches, especially Bali. The photo made headlines on Instagram. With several environmental organisations and several groups sharing the photograph, it made activists talk.

A ‘mermaid’ was seen lounging in trash as volunteers tried to remove rubbish and plastic from Bali's famous Kuta Beach pic.twitter.com/ZaAtUoUjGH

— Reuters India (@ReutersIndia) January 5, 2021

2.Call for Action

The activist wrote, naming volunteers heroes: "The community has risen to the challenge to protect our beautiful planet." The protester, however, said that recycling and washing alone is not a permanent solution. She called out major companies such as Coca Cola, Pepsico, Unilever, Nestle. Also, she challenged them to be responsible and stop creating garbage.

The 35-year-old activist explained in an interview with Coconuts Bali that she wanted to produce this graphic material to attract people's attention. She wanted to draw people to the problem of plastic pollution and use. She added that her mermaid stunt was a brilliant way to do it.

"It was just heartwarming to see, and that's when I started feeling hope instead of despair and powerlessness," she said, saying that after watching all the plastic waste, she felt "paralysed."

In order to better clean the beach efficiently, local NGOs and conservation organisations are now calling for volunteers to join the sanitation campaign.

3.More on environmental crises

In what experts say is becoming an annual occurrence thanks to monsoon weather, bad waste treatment and a worldwide marine pollution crisis, Bali's famed beaches are festooned with plastic garbage, The Guardian reported.

In Indonesia, marine pollution is a major concern and every year, for wrong reasons, its iconic beaches hit global headlines as its golden shoreline is inundated with a mountain of plastic waste. In November 2018, a dead whale with 13.2 pounds of plastic waste in its stomach washed ashore near Kapota Island in Wakatobi National Park, near Sulawesi.

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