MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Boaters and environmentalists are fuming after a viral video shows crews on a boat indiscriminately popping and throwing balloons into Biscayne Bay.
“It was really shocking and disappointing, extremely sad to see,” Debris Free Oceans Co-Founder Caiti Waks said.
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From the Instagram video posted on Tuesday, it looks like several dozen popped balloons made it into the water.
“Balloons are horrible for our environment. They often look like jellyfish floating in the water, sea turtles eat them,” Waks explained.
And because of the popularity of balloons in décor, volunteers with Debris Free Oceans have found a ton of them.
“We counted out 157 balloons,” Waks recalled of a recent beach cleanup.
“Unfortunately, there’s not a lot of enforcement on the water,” Waks explained.
That’s why she applauds Esteban Bruna for sharing his video and getting the attention of police.
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“Just a bunch of balloons being popped, trash falling in the water little to no regard,” he said on his video.
Bruna is a Miami local and avid fisherman, so he warned the crew to stop, but they didn’t.
“It makes me happy that action is being taken for it, I think somebody needs to be held accountable for whatever happened,” Bruna said.
Multiple agencies are now investigating, including Miami-Dade PD and Miami PD.
However, the reality is that trash goes into the bay every day.
“As though it were an actual garbage can,” Waks added.
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Whoever is responsible for the litter caught on video could face civil and criminal penalties.
