A shocking video shared on Reddit sparked outrage as two individuals were shown popping balloon decorations and then dropping the remnants directly into the ocean after a yacht party.
This incident serves as a reminder of how important it is to spread awareness of the harmful effects that pollution can have on our oceans.
Trash, especially plastic waste, can be extremely dangerous for marine wildlife, as it may be eaten by sea creatures, constrict their movement, isolate entire populations of species, or even secrete toxic substances into the water.
As of 2023, there were 170 trillion pieces of plastic in the ocean, which adds up to about 21,000 pieces of plastic for every person on the planet.
This debris can also degrade into tiny fragments, or microplastics, that are difficult to clean up and can even end up inside the bodies of living creatures — even our own.
Together, we can show respect for the earth and take daily actions that contribute to cleaner oceans worldwide, such as correctly disposing of their plastic trash and recycling it when possible or drinking from reusable water bottles rather than single-use ones.
Many of those who responded to the post voiced their anger and called for fines or other legal repercussions to be dealt to whoever was responsible for the blatant littering.
"They are in what I believe is in a Miami harbor. A representative of the district has already been informed and is seeking arrestable action to those people," one commenter wrote in response to a Redditor asking whether there was a way to report this activity to local authorities.
"Future reference for anyone that sees things like this, the environmental police live to charge people like this, always capture the vessel name and registration number and they will count each and every balloon as an individual littering charge," another commenter informed.
"I'm a bit shocked at how primally angry this video makes me," a third Reddit user said. "Such a violent level of disregard."
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