Manta Rays swim through clouds of plastic waste showing shocking effects of pollution

Huge, placid manta rays have become an iconic image of ocean life, with tourists paying out to swim alongside the gentle beasts.

But shocking new images captured near Bali by a worker for a marine life charity have shown how plastic pollution threatens the animals.

Manta rays are unable to distinguish between the plastic waste and their food – meaning that they circle in the waste, trying to eat it.

Brooke Pyke of the Marine Megafauna Foundation told The Mirror, ‘Everything from takeaway cutlery, to tampons, nappies, laundry liquid packaging… you name it, I saw it.

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‘The currents gather all the ocean trash together after they flush out from the rivers,’

Tourists have previously captured shocking videos of manta rays swimming through underwater clouds of rubbish.

Up to 10 million tons of plastic are thought to be dumped in the sea each year, Newcastle University researchers warned earlier this year.

The weight of plastic in our oceans is expected to be larger than the total weight of all fish by 2050.

The ‘great Pacific garbage patch’ where millions of tons of plastic has accumulated after being dumped in the seas might not be alone, scientists have warned.

An attempt to locate the millions of tons of plastic dumped into the sea has concluded that 99.99% of the waste is ‘missing’.

Other accumulations of plastic could lurk on the bottom of the ocean, where it could have dire effects on sea life, experts have warned.