Two boaters seen in a viral video dumping trash into the Florida ocean are minors, an official says

Two boaters seen in a viral video dumping trash into the ocean off Florida are minors and charges against them are imminent, a state official said Thursday.

The youths’ lawyers advised them not to cooperate with investigators, said Maj. Dustin Bonds, southern region commander for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, or FWC.

The agency is working with prosecutors from the Palm Beach County state’s attorney’s office to determine the appropriate charge, Bonds said.

The weight of the trash that was dumped Sunday in Boca Inlet could affect the charges, Bonds said.

Bonds said he couldn’t believe it when he watched the video because he had never seen anyone dump trash in the ocean.

“I was shocked that people were taking advantage of our waterways, just like hundreds of boaters in Boca were doing that day, but this boat decided it was okay to dump two trash cans overboard,” he said.

Others seen on the boat have also been identified, the wildlife agency said.

But Bonds said he hopes witnesses on the boat come forward and speak to investigators. Bonds said about 16 minors were on the boat and only one of them spoke voluntarily to investigators.

FWC President Rodney Barreto said on NBC’s “TODAY” show that the video “has become a worldwide story. I mean, the world is watching this.”

Authorities have not publicly identified the people they said were involved.

The wildlife agency said it is working with the state attorney’s office to “identify appropriate charges” in the incident, which happened Sunday in Boca Inlet.

The video, posted by content creator Wavy Boats on YouTube, shows two people each throwing a trash can full of trash into the sea.

The boaters in the video attended the annual Boca Bash, according to its organizers, who said they were working to identify them.

“We cannot be more angered and disturbed by these actions,” said the Boca Bash said in a statement on its Facebook page. “As soon as the video was posted, we quickly began working with the community to find out who owned the boat and who was on the vessel, in this specific case, committing an egregious act. Several people who helped identify them have already contacted authorities to deal with the situation.”

Organizers also said they would like to see the sailors involved face “repercussions”:

“We do not condone this behavior in any way and are appalled that passengers had the audacity to applaud the drone that filmed them dumping their rubbish. We hope the repercussions conveyed can be seen publicly as a reminder of how important our waters are to us native Floridians.”

Anyone involved in the incident who wants to come forward should contact the FWC Wildlife Alert Hotline at 888-404-3922.

This article was originally published in NBCNews. with