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

A man 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 bunch who says they "pleasure ourselves on defending and spreading awareness on the attractive waters we get to call dwelling," was shot simply after 4 p.m. at Bayshore Touchdown Marina.

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

"As we handed them and expressed our disagreement, we had been 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 mentioned Wednesday evening that they arrested one man and handed out nine civil citations.

The person was identified as 29-year-old David Torres-Bocanegra. He was charged with reckless disregard for the environment.

“As a neighborhood, we share the accountability to guard the environment," Miami-Dade Police Director George A. Perez said in a press release. "I'm extremely pleased with our Illegal Dumping Unit, for his or her thorough investigation and swift conclusion to this case."

David Torres-Bocanegra

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

"First off, I need to put my heart out and say how essential it's to protect our environment," he said.

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

"Our balloon vendor adorned 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 answerable for eradicating balloon decorations," the statement read in part.

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

"I was fairly upset about it, that is our bay, that is our livelihood," Bruna stated. "I used to be here after they have been setting them up and then initially I did not actually assume a lot of it but I suppose as the day was finished and so they began popping away and letting all of them go into the water I was shocked."

One witness mentioned the balloons may have been part of a wedding proposal. Bruna stated he confronted the people.

"I mentioned to them,' are you guys severe, is that this one thing you're going to do right now?' [They] type of just blew me off, ignored me," Bruna said. "It was horrifying to see what they were doing to the marine life and the waterways by just dumping all of those balloons into the water."

Officers with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Fee said balloons could be mistaken for food by sea turtles and different marine animals, and if eaten, can result in internal damage, starvation, and death.

Balloon releases have been unlawful in Florida since 1989.