'More Masks Than Jellyfish' In Oceans: While Fighting COVID-19, We're Creating Another Crisis

A protective mask is seen discarded on a sidewalk, putting people and animals at risk.

Discarded masks and gloves are becoming a health hazard as people dump them on streets, say experts.

Surgical masks are washing up in growing quantities on the shores of Hong Kong - a city that has overwhelmingly embraced face coverings to fight the coronavirus.

Conservationists say the masks are adding to already alarmingly-high levels of plastic waste in the waters around the world.

A discarded face mask washes up on a beach in the residential area of Discovery Bay, on the outlying Lantau Island in Hong Kong.

Gary Stokes, the founder of the environmental group Oceans Asia, uses surgical gloves to pick up discarded face masks as beach cleaners sort through other pieces of litter left on a beach, in the residential area of Discovery Bay, on the outlying Lantau Island in Hong Kong.

Discarded personal protective equipment (PPE) is increasingly turning up on shorelines and the seabed, presenting a threat to wildlife.

Conservationists have warned that the coronavirus pandemic could spark a surge in ocean pollution. Soon, there will be more gloves and masks than jellyfish in the Mediterranean. The alarm was raised by Opération Mer Propre, a French ecologist organization.

Divers found what Joffrey Peltier of the organisation described as “COVID-19 waste” – dozens of gloves, masks and bottles of hand sanitiser, beneath the waves of the Mediterranean, mixed in with the usual litter of disposable cups and aluminium cans.