Paradise lost in a sea of plastic: How Dublin mum and daughter are helping clean up pollution disaster zone

Duo battle horror caused by islands of rubbish in the Indian Ocean

Flossie Donnelly and her mum Harriet Donnelly in Indonesia, where they have been helping remove plastics from the sea while also educating Irish students about the enormity of the problem

Caroline O'Doherty

Visiting an island in the Indian Ocean sounds like an enviable way to spend the Easter break.

That is until you discover the “island” is a floating mass of plastic and rubbish so thick and tightly woven that it can hold the weight of adults climbing aboard to inspect its putrid contents.