We are asking the mayor of Miami Daniella Levine Cava, Chief Bay Officer Irela Bague, and the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners (BCC) to pilot a new ordinance banning balloons and confetti in coastal waters.

Today, a video shared by @thequalifiedcaptain went viral, it was showing a yacht’s crew discarding dozens of balloons directly onto the same waters where we have spotted a sea turtle, manatee, and shark just in the past weeks.

This is not an isolated issue, as many of you already know, it is a recurring problem with Miami’s yachting industry and boating scene.

In the last years, many cities in South Florida have already passed similar measures banning balloons from public parks. We believe this should be extended to marinas, beaches, and coastal areas.

Yes, today’s incident shows insulting ruthlessness and flagrant disregard for our ecosystem, but this is the tip of the iceberg. Boat charters are producing enormous amounts of single-use trash, often dumping debris, dirty water tanks, and even oil directly into the water (intentionally or unintentionally).

Banning balloons and confetti isn’t going to solve the pollution problem. However, we believe it’s important and necessary to spark a cultural shift.

As population and development keep growing significantly, it is our duty to protect what makes Miami a unique city in the world: our clean waters, clean air, biodiversity, and wildlife.

We can achieve a balanced coexistence with wildlife but we need laws, enforcement, infrastructure, and most importantly, EDUCATION.

If we do this, Miami will grow in value.

But as of today, we live in a beautiful place where most boaters don’t follow the “no wake” zone, seagrass beds are disappearing, and people are not even required to have a boating license or an environmental education class to go out.

We beg the Miami-Dade county to pass legislation to protect our ecosystem and increase environmental awareness among boaters and the charter industry.

Please sign and share our petition. And say no to balloons too.