Arrest Made in Balloon Littering Investigation at Coconut Grove Marina – NBC 6 South Florida

A person has been arrested after cellphone video captured what gave the impression to be several boaters popping balloons and letting the trash fall into the water close to a Coconut Grove marina on Tuesday.

The video posted by MMG Outboard Division, a group who says they "satisfaction ourselves on defending and spreading awareness on the attractive waters we get to name house," was shot just after 4 p.m. at Bayshore Touchdown Marina.

Two folks onboard the boat are seen popping balloons and letting them fall into the water.

"As we passed them and expressed our disagreement, we were ignored and so they continued popping away with no care on the earth," the group posted of their message.

Miami-Dade police have made an arrest after cellphone video surfaced of people on a ship popping balloons into the ocean. NBC 6's Jamie Guirola reviews

Miami-Dade Police stated Wednesday evening that they arrested one man and handed out nine civil citations.

The man was recognized as 29-year-old David Torres-Bocanegra. He was charged with reckless disregard for the setting.

“As a community, we share the duty to protect our surroundings," Miami-Dade Police Director George A. Perez stated in a statement. "I'm extremely happy with our Unlawful Dumping Unit, for their thorough investigation and swift conclusion to this case."

David Torres-Bocanegra

Tom Rivas, who rented the boat so he might propose to his girlfriend, responded to the criticisms on his Instagram tales, saying he was not accountable for the balloon popping.

"First off, I need to put my coronary heart out and say how essential it is to guard our surroundings," he said.

Cloud Nine, an event planning company, also deflected accountability in an announcement on Instagram.

"Our balloon vendor decorated the boat and left. We decorated the pier, completed the proposal, and cleaned up like we all the time do. We are by no means in control of eradicating balloon decorations," the assertion learn partially.

Esteban Bruna, a yacht dealer, shot the cellphone video.

"I was pretty upset about it, that is our bay, this is our livelihood," Bruna said. "I was here once they have been setting them up and then initially I did not actually assume a lot of it however I assume as the day was executed they usually started popping away and letting them all go into the water I was shocked."

One witness mentioned the balloons may have been part of a marriage proposal. Bruna mentioned he confronted the individuals.

"I discussed to them,' are you guys critical, is this one thing you are going to do proper now?' [They] sort of simply blew me off, ignored me," Bruna said. "It was horrifying to see what they had been doing to the marine life and the waterways by just dumping all of those balloons into the water."

Officials with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said balloons will be mistaken for food by sea turtles and different marine animals, and if eaten, can lead to internal harm, starvation, and demise.

Balloon releases have been unlawful in Florida since 1989.