Waves of garbage hit Dominican Republic

Come for the beaches, say tourism ads for the Dominican Republic.

But it has some beaches you might want to skip right now.

The Caribbean nation is known for sapphire seas and ivory beaches, but it is grappling with waves of garbage washing up on its shores, a vivid reminder of the presence of thousands of tons of plastic in the world's oceans.

Those piles, most notably the "Great Pacific Garbage Patch," are usually far from human settlements, to say nothing of resort destinations.

But instead of visitors relaxing on Montesinos Beach in the capital, Santo Domingo, there has been an altogether different scene, one unlikely to wind up on a postcard: hundreds of city workers and volunteers waging an uphill battle against sludgy garbage.

Images have shown teams using pikes, shovels and excavators to lift the garbage, only to be met with new waves carrying even more.

Sixty tons of garbage have been collected on the beach since last week. The haul included plastic bottles and Styrofoam takeout boxes, Parley for the Oceans, an organization that works to reduce plastic waste in the world's oceans, said in a statement.

The images are shocking, but perhaps not for people who live in the Dominican Republic.

"It happens pretty much all the time if there is a strong rainfall or a storm," Cyrill Gutsch, founder of Parley for the Oceans, said in a telephone interview.