Florida wildlife officers investigate boaters seen on video dumping trash in the ocean
A boatload full of kids leaving the Boca Inlet is not an uncommon occurrence. But things took a turn when some youths recently were seen on camera tossing two trash cans full of garbage into the choppy turquoise seas. The footage drew outrage on social media.
“This one is pretty unbelievable guys,” wrote the camera operator for Wavy Boats, a popular Instagram account with 694,000 followers that recorded and published video of the incident. “We filmed this crew leaving Boca Bash 2024 yesterday,” the Monday morning post continued.
In a statement, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission indicated it has started an investigation after being notified of an incident “involving illegal trash dumping.” Among other things, the agency also would determine whether the boaters in question had attended this year’s Boca Bash, an annual floating party of boaters that took place Sunday on Lake Boca, just inside the Boca Raton Inlet.
“This is currently an active investigation, and we will release additional details when available,” the FWC said. In Florida, dumping more than 15 pounds of debris is considered a first-degree misdemeanor.
This year’s Boca Bash attracted throngs of revelers of boats on the waterway, enjoying a sunny day. As in past years, the celebration drew concerns about trash being left behind in the water.
Brook Crist, a Pompano Beach boater who makes nets for lobstering, conducted a cleanup and scavenger hunt after the bash. She and friends spent five hours snorkeling in the party’s aftermath and filled two 5-gallon buckets full of trash — mostly beverage cans and champagne bottles; dozens of sunglasses; loads of plastic bead necklaces; makeup containers and a demolished smartphone.
Crist said she, too, saw the Wavy Boats video on social media and posted this message: “We cleaned up the lake today and didn’t even attend Boca Bash,” she wrote. “Then you have people like this, just throwing in trash cans full of bottles, cans. … Ridiculous.”
Wavy Boats’ clip shows about 10 or so young people frolicking aboard a blue center-console boat. As the vessel headed out to sea, two young men moved to the rear of the boat and appear to dump two trash cans full of what seemed to be beverage cans and bottles into the ocean.
A trail of debris bobs in the wake of the boat — snack bags, beverage cans and plastic bottles among the flotsam.
The clips drew an outcry on social media. Of the boaters, Crist said, “Hopefully, it teaches a lot of people to think twice before they do something like this, too.”
The person behind the Wavy Boats account could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.
One of the “Boca Bash” Facebook pages describes the event as an “epic lake gathering. It is a free event! Just catch a ride! Boat Responsibly & Respect our Waterways!” Hundreds of boats gather in Lake Boca each year. It’s considered an unofficial event, where revelers plan to converge on the water on the last Sunday of April each year.
The FWC had a “water patrol” present at Boca Bash. According to jail and court records in Palm Beach County, there were at least nine arrests on charges related to impaired boating made on Sunday in the vicinity of Boca Bash.
As people gathered this past Sunday on the water, both the FWC and Boca Raton police were seen keeping a presence on the water.