Nguyen Minh Hoang, 30, said that he and a group of friends from Hanoi visited the bay on April 3 and they were very disappointed with the pollution.
"The water was full of rubbish which were mostly deteriorating styrofoam buoys," he said. "We had planned to take part in some activities in the bay but then we had to stop when we saw too much rubbish floating on the water."
Another visitor, Pham Thu Huyen, 28, shared some photos she took during her recent trip to Ha Long Bay on her Facebook account to warn people about the pollution.
"There was so much rubbish on the water that I didn't dare to swim or kayak on the bay," she wrote. "The rubbish has made Ha Long ugly and I decided to end my trip to the bay earlier than scheduled."
An owner of a tourist boat operating in the bay, who wished to remain anonymous, told Dantri/Dtinews that he felt ashamed and sad when receiving many bad comments from visitors about the pollution in Ha Long.
"I've gathered some staff members and friends to collect rubbish on the bay but haven't been able to deal with the large amount of waste," he said. "I hope that tour operators, local people, and visitors all try to pay more attention to keep the bay clean."
Styrofoam buoys collected from the bay
Speaking with Dantri/Dtinews, vice head of Ha Long Bay Management Board, Nguyen Trung Hau, said that the waste was mostly styrofoam buoys that drifted from fish farms in surrounding localities as farmers replaced them with environmentally-friendly alternatives.
"Waste has badly affected the environment of the bay as well as the operation of boats in the area," he said. "We've mobilised some forces to collect the rubbish over the past few days, but the work would need more time. We've also proposed to issue fines to farmers who discharged styrofoam buoys into the area."
