The oceans are vast and beautiful, which makes it easy to forget about what gets into them.
Despite efforts over the past 40 years to clean up the oceans, garbage finds its way into the sea through storm drains and illegal dumping. Nobody knows this better than scuba divers and swimmers who come face to face with the trash.
For the past two months, divers around the world have posted their photos of garbage at sea to Instagram under the hashtag #BeneathTheWaves. Created by Project AWARE, the photo collection aims to put a spotlight on ocean pollution, and some of the photos are actually stunning.
Along with educational campaigns like this one, Project AWARE advocates for ocean conservation on behalf of scuba divers in more than 180 countries.