Instagram travel couple blasts 'horrible' litter at popular tourist beach
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}An Instagram-famous travel couple hopes to raise awareness of the “horrible” litter that has flooded a popular beach in Indonesia, sharing before-and-after images of the tourist hotspot — reportedly taken just one year apart.
On April 22, otherwise known as Earth Day, Marie Fe and Jake Snow posted two aerial images of the famed Pink Beach in Indonesia to highlight the “reality of the horrible situation” at their “favorite beach in the world” for their Instagram audience of 479,000.
In the first picture, which the bloggers say was taken in 2018, the couple lounged side-by-side on a clean sandy beach looking into the turquoise waters. In the second, supposedly captured this year, Fe and Snow sit a bit closer together, as if to shy away from the pollution that litters both the sand and the sea.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}INSTAGRAM COUPLE DEFENDS 'STUPID' PHOTO ON EDGE OF INFINITY POOL
“These two photos were taken in exactly the same spot one year apart from each other,” the bloggers began of the “the reality of the horrible situation we find ourselves in!”
“Even the most secluded and untouched beauties of the world like this Pink Beach in the Komodo Islands are being drowned in plastic! We never imagined that upon return to our favorite beach in the world we would find such a disturbing scene!” Fe and Snow lamented in a post that has since been liked over 53,000 times.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“It really broke our hearts to see the amount of rubbish that had washed up on this once beautiful beach,” they continued. “If we don’t act now, this will become a normality! Our beaches our oceans and our world will be covered in plastic. Photoshopping the rubbish out won't fix the problem, showing the reality of what’s going on, will!”
Fe and Snow detailed that they plan to use the hashtag #plasticparadise to spotlight places being battered by plastic and pollution in hopes of initiating “clean ups and change.”
Their plea struck a chord with many commenters, while some questioned the couple if they actually picked up any of the litter.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“Oh nooooo this is so sad to see. We are headed to Komodo in a few weeks and were previously really looking forward to going here. Pick up your trash everyone!!!” another popular Instagram travel blogging couple, Kelly Castille and Kody Workman of @Positravelty, wrote online.
A shot of a litter-free Pink Beach in Komodo National Park, Indonesia. (iStock)
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“[These] pictures make me feel so sad but also so motivated to make a change,” another supporter agreed.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“Its horrible,” someone else added of the pollution. “Just a question - did you remove, at least some of it?”
“Did you pick up the rubbish or just get the photo? It would have been a better montage of you actually doing something about it instead of 'creating awareness' as an Instagram influencer,” a critic countered.
“Why not add ‘Let’s all pick up some litter every time we go to the beach!’ It will help! Taking a pic and 'rubbishing' the region is only one part of the solution YOU can make it better too! Did you guys pick up trash when you left?” another asked.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}As noted by The Independent, the stunning “Pink Beach” in Komodo National Park is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Indonesia – though increasing amounts of visitors are leaving behind worrying amounts of garbage.
As for their personal history, German-born Fe and Australian-born Snow met while in Thailand a few years ago, according to their website. The duo has been traveling the world together – and photographing their exotic adventures – ever since.
Though their glamorous life sounds a whole lot like those of other trendy social media travel couples, Fe and Snow say that their commitment to sharing the truth sets them apart from other accounts.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“We travel the world creating content that inspires wanderlust and encourages people to chase their dreams. Behind the photos, behind the Instagram is a story that is real,” they wrote on their site.
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With millions of tons of plastic waste filling – and harming – the ocean, a new study suggests that the plastic pollution problem in the world's oceans is having a startling economic impact — perhaps as much as $2.5 trillion.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The report, published in Science Direct, notes the negative impact on "almost all marine ecosystem services," including areas such as fisheries, recreation and heritage. A decline of one to five percent in marine ecosystem service delivery "equates to an annual loss of $500–$2500 billion in the value of benefits derived from marine ecosystem services," the researchers wrote in the study.
Fox News’ Chris Ciacca contributed to this report.