Garbage dumped into ocean
(Photo : Wavy Boats/YouTube)
Young boaters are allegedly seen dumping trash into the Atlantic Ocean near the end of an annual floating party known as the 'Boca Bash' in Boca Raton, Florida, on Sunday, April 28, 2024.

Authorities in Florida are investigating a video that allegedly shows young boaters emptying two large garbage cans full of trash into the Atlantic Ocean near the end of a wild floating party known as the "Boca Bash."

The recording, posted on YouTube on Monday, sparked outrage from viewers who left comments including, "The real trash is still on the boat!"

"Wretched kids dumping trash in the water — and arrogant, too," another YouTube user wrote. "If I'd been on that boat my dad would have had me on the beach every day for a year picking up trash."

The video was posted by an account called Wavy Boats, which said it was shot near the inlet to Lake Boca Raton using a camera with a 1,500 mm zoom lens.

"WARNING: THIS VIDEO WILL MAKE YOU ANGRY! CAUGHT RED HANDED AT BOCA BASH," according to a caption on the video, which had been viewed more than 250,000 times by Tuesday afternoon.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is currently investigating, according to local TV station WSVN, which cited Boca Raton police.

Dumping more than 15 pounds of waste into a Florida waterway is a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail, the station said.

In a statement, the organizers of the annual Boca Bash, which is held on Lake Boca Raton on the last Sunday in April, said they'd identified the people caught on camera.

The organizers also said it was "irresponsible boaters like this that have zero care for our oceans that give this event a bad reputation."