#Pollution: This would have been a surfing post, but instead, lets talk about plastic

I'D love to try surfing again, but then again, I am not too keen on getting washed up onto the rocks again and reopen old wounds - nothing on this planet stings as bad as coral cutting through your skin, again and again.

Or for that matter, the pain of being folded in ways a person should not be able to fold - as in so far backward that it feels as though your spine is about to rupture through your skull thanks to that one wave you caught only to end up getting barreled in a way which also does not feel too good.

I have huge respect for surfers not because they can surf but rather because they find a peace in something most people take for granted, something which was also one of the highlights at this weekend's Shark Weekend - #OceanConservation

Why, because our oceans worldwide are polluted and the numbers speak for themselves with some 1.4 billion pounds of trash being introduced to the ocean annually. Did you know that the largest collection of waste in the ocean is twice the size of the state of Texas? More info here: World's largest collection of ocean garbage is twice the size of Texas

I'm not sure how one person can help to start the process of change necessary to combat the growing pollution crisis but who knows, maybe five to ten people read this, it gets a few resteems, and perhaps one day, we have the 'army' we need to combat pollution.

I love walking along the beach because I collect driftwood which I use in my bonsai - I can no longer remember a day when I did not find anything plastic related washed up on the beach.

Can you imagine that?

Another heartbreaking fact is that annually, 1-million various species of sea bird die as a result of pollution.

Some ingest pieces of plastic which were mistaken for food - in the days that follow, the bird that ingested the plastic, if it does not die immediately, technically does not become hungry or even feel hungry, eventually resulting in the bird's death.

As if the nurdle crisis that hit the coast of South Africa last year was not bad enough: Nurdle clean-up continues between Richards Bay and Umkomaas

In South Africa, we are currently doing our best to ward off oil and gas companies from all over the globe - their intent is to continue with gas and oil exploration along the coastline, using seismic testing.

If you don't know about seismic testing to determine whether oil and/or gas are present below the ocean bed, go Google it - the effects are scary.

Concerns about ocean life to be raised at oil and gas exploration workshop

Seismic concerns about whale strandings

So, what started out as a simple post which would have only included photos of surfers enjoying the ocean on an early Saturday morning, has suddenly turned into a rant about how we are indeed destroying the ocean.

But now that the rant is over, where do we go from here? We say we 'recycle' responsibly but how do we know the people collecting our recycled waste dispose of it properly? I see growing heaps of trash every day along road ways which are very clearly not dumping zones - government does nothing about this unless the person is caught in the act.

Long story short, enjoy the photos: