There’s a new trend going on right now on Easter Island: people make it look like they are picking the noses of the massive moai statues, to the dismay of many. This behavior “has spurred new conversations about how visitors to the island should behave.”
"Because of the ubiquitous nature of photography in our community, people take the same picture repeatedly. Once one person picks a nose of the moai, you can be sure there will be multiple thousands [of photos], because people are lemmings," [archaeologist] Van Tilburg tells CNN Travel.
Two other examples of these "overdone" photos are people who make it look like they're holding the Great Pyramid of Giza in the palm of their hand and travelers making it look as if they're pushing the Leaning Tower of Pisa up to keep it from falling.
"There's nothing creative or interesting or humorous about it. The herd instinct is real."
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And bad behavior is sadly not a new invention. In 2008, a Finnish man who climbed one of the moai and chipped a piece of ear off was arrested, fined $17,000 and ordered to leave the island and never return.
What are your thoughts on this one?
(Image Credit: voltamax/ Pixabay)