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

A man has been arrested after cellphone video captured what seemed to be a number of 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 gaggle who says they "pride ourselves on defending and spreading consciousness on the attractive waters we get to call dwelling," was shot just after 4 p.m. at Bayshore Landing Marina.

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

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

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

Miami-Dade Police said Wednesday night time 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 accountability to protect our environment," Miami-Dade Police Director George A. Perez mentioned in a statement. "I'm extremely pleased with our Illegal Dumping Unit, for their 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 stories, saying he was not responsible for the balloon popping.

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

Cloud 9, an event planning company, also deflected duty in an announcement on Instagram.

"Our balloon vendor decorated the boat and left. We adorned the pier, completed the proposal, and cleaned up like we all the time do. We are never in charge of removing balloon decorations," the statement read partly.

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

"I used to be fairly upset about it, that is our bay, this is our livelihood," Bruna stated. "I used to be right here after they had been setting them up after which initially I didn't really think a lot of it however I suppose because the day was finished and they began popping away and letting them all go into the water I was shocked."

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

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

Officers with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Fee said balloons will be mistaken for food by sea turtles and other marine animals, and if eaten, can lead to internal injury, hunger, and death.

Balloon releases have been illegal in Florida since 1989.