Teens charged with felonies for dumping barrels full of trash into ocean after viral video

Two teens turned themselves in and were charged with felonies after a video went viral of people dumping of two barrels of trash from a boat into the ocean during the April 28, Boca Bash event, reports say.

The boys, who are 15 and 16 years old, are from Palm Beach County, which is an hour and a half drive from Miami, reports the Miami Herald.

The paper adds that the teenagers were arrested on third degree felony charges for causing pollution “so as to harm or injure human health or welfare, animal, plant or aquatic life or property."

The incident garnered national attention and outrage after a video of the suspects emptying trash barrels off the back of a boat and into the Atlantic Ocean was posted to social media.

The video was originally posted by @Wavy_Boats on Instagram. The footage was captured with a drone off the coast of South Florida and showed the teens emptying the trash bins over the railing of the boat.

What happened?

FWC officers launched an investigation April 29, after receiving complaints in response to a video posted on social media that showed several juveniles on a boat traveling out of the Boca Inlet. The boat was heading away from the Boca Bash, an unsanctioned gathering of boaters, Jet-Skiers and kayakers that takes place on the final Sunday of each April on Lake Boca and attracts thousands of people.

The trash-dumping incident, captured by a drone, showed eight to 10 people in a three-engine fishing vessel named Halcyon leaving the Boca Raton Inlet in heaving waves. Two young men were then seen dumping two large buckets of garbage over the side of the boat, leaving a trail of multicolored cans, cups and bottles in their wake.

News outlets nationwide broadcast the video. The outrage that followed turned the incident into "a worldwide story," FWC Chairman Rodney Barreto said. He told the FWC board, at a Wednesday meeting in Daytona Beach, that the world "is watching us."

"We don’t even have words for this." -@CleanMiamiBeach

Sophia Ringel, the founder of Clean Miami Beach, a Miami-based nonprofit organization that is dedicated to protecting Miami Beach and its marine wildlife, told USA TODAY the video is "heartbreaking."

Ringel said that she and her team were "very very shocked to see that some individuals just seem to not care at all and throw trash in the ocean."

She adds that the video was difficult to watch, especially because her organization works so hard to clean the beach and educate the public about the ocean and marine life.

Boca Bash trash dumping incident drew national attention

The Boca Bash Facebook page addressed the incident in an April 30 post, saying the boating community would work together to identify the boat and its occupants so they could be reported to FWC investigators.

FWC said its investigators were able to confirm the identities of the two teens and worked with the Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office to determine what charges they will face. Under Florida's litter law, someone dumping litter that weighs 15 pounds or less can be fined $150, but it is not a criminal offense. If the litter exceeds 15 pounds but is under 500 pounds, it is a first-degree misdemeanor.

In a statement announcing the pending charges, Barreto described it as a "teaching moment for all those involved."

“The illegal dumping of trash in our marine environment is a serious crime, and we worked closely with the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office to determine appropriate charges. Callous disregard for Florida’s environment will not be tolerated," he said.