This frame grab from video shot by Wavy Boats, an online video producer, shows the trash dumping. Two teenagers on the boat surrendered to law enforcement. Photo provided
By Mary Hladky
Boca Bash always is a wild event, but this year’s April 28 bacchanal on Lake Boca drew national and international attention when two teenagers attending it were captured on video dumping trash into the ocean.
The two boys, from Gulf Stream and Boynton Beach, turned themselves in after the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission charged them with causing pollution that can harm human or animal health, a third-degree felony. The Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office will make final charging decisions.
The teens aged 15 and 16, whom The Coastal Star is not naming because they are juveniles, attend Oxbridge Academy in West Palm Beach and Boca Raton High School, according to the FWC’s arrest reports. They were identified by teachers at their schools and by other juveniles who were on the boat.
The incident was captured on video by Wavy Boats, which uses drones and zoom cameras to capture boats facing rough waters across Florida, and posted on social media platforms. The video became an instant hit.
The teens were on a boat named Halcyon out of Gulf Stream that carried about 13 young people, the FWC reports said.
The video shows that as the vessel exited the Boca Inlet in roiling waters, one teen left the helm, picked up a large basket and dumped its contents into the water. He then held the basket over his head, “pumping the basket up and down as if he was celebrating the dumping of the trash into the water,” the reports state.
The second boy followed suit, picking up a trash bin and dumping it. The basket and bin contained plastic water bottles, cans, beverage cartons, food bags and other items.
They then headed back to Boca Bash, an unsanctioned, loosely organized annual event that draws as many as 10,000 people and hundreds of boats on the last Sunday in April.
“The illegal dumping of trash into our marine environment is a serious crime,” FWC Chairman Rodney Barreto said in a news release. “Callous disregard for Florida’s environment will not be tolerated.”
In all, the FWC made 20 arrests largely on charges of boating under the influence or drug possession.
Boca Bash organizers immediately denounced the trash dumping.
“We cannot be more angered or disturbed by these actions,” they said on a Boca Bash Facebook page. “By no means do we believe this is a representation of the gathering. We implore and expect boaters to keep the waterways clean, uphold proper boating etiquette and follow state laws on the water.”
When FWC investigators spoke to the father of one of the boys, he said, “This is not a representation of who we are,” the arrest reports said.
“We take the responsibility of caring for our oceans and our community very seriously, and we are extremely saddened by what occurred last weekend at Boca Bash,” the parents of one of the teenagers said in a statement. “We want to extend our sincerest apologies to everyone who has been impacted and rightfully upset by what occurred.”
A spokeswoman for those parents said they were not granting interviews. Their son’s attorney did not respond to an email and a voicemail seeking additional information.
Juvenile court records are not made public, and a spokesman for the State Attorney’s Office said the office doesn’t comment on the outcome of juvenile cases. The office can choose to make a statement, but had not done so as of May 24.
The FWC takes the law enforcement lead for Boca Bash because Lake Boca, actually a wide section of the Intracoastal Waterway, falls under state jurisdiction. The Boca Raton Police Department and other law enforcement agencies assist its investigators.
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