Video of a man smiling while throwing water into a river from his boat may land him in some very hot water. The charge? The alleged harassment of animal on the endangered species list.
The video, which has the headline, “Would you swim in this river?” shows Scott McCormick throwing a bucket of water in the St. John’s River in Florida.
Close by, in the river, are a large gathering of manatees, which has social media users in an uproar.
Written beside the ViralHog video, Maria McCormick said her husband had been bailing water out of the boat after a storm. She said that each time he threw water, they would see splashes in the water. She said they were recording one of the tosses when they saw big splashes of water. The couple said they would never swim in the river again.
However, social media was quick to condemn the McCormicks for pestering the manatees.
According to one Facebook user, McCormick knew he was annoying the manatees, and he was the monster for doing it.
William Murphy, a local resident, said he saw the video and was disgusted by it. He said he was angry because nobody should do that to the manatees.
McCormick is currently under investigation for allegedly harassing the endangered and protected manatees. State laws stipulate that if he’s found guilty, he could be in jail for a maximum of 60 days.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said it was investigating someone for manatee harassment.