A family is under investigation after polluting a Brazilian waterfall and river with blue dye in a scandalous gender reveal stunt.
Viral videos of the over-the-top stunt last Sunday in the state of Mato Grosso caught the attention of environmental officials, according to several media reports.
The stunt was a violation of Brazil’s federal environmental law, a spokesman for Mato Grosso’s environmental protection agency told The Washington Post.
An unidentified family member behind the stunt is charged with damaging the environment, and an ongoing investigation will determine penalties and fees, the agency said.
The researchers “will determine if there was environmental damage, depending on the material released into the water,” Brazil’s environmental authority SEMA (Secretaria de Estado de Meio Ambiente do Mato Grosso) said in a statement translated by Gizmodo.
As of Monday, researchers found “no change in physical water parameters, such as color and others, and no trace of local fish mortality,” according to SEMA.
However, the agency said that dumping a substance into water “constitutes an offence” under Brazilian law, and penalties can be as high as the equivalent of $9,300.
The 59-foot-tall waterfall is located in the town of Tangará da Serra, a popular area for ecotourism. The waterfall flows into the Queima Pé River, which is an important source of fresh water for the community, which has been struggling with a severe drought.
Most people who responded to the video on social media were outraged by the “gender reveal,” an event that increasingly pits couples against each other to present the most narcissistically outrageous, often reckless, extravagances.
Last year, a California couple was charged with involuntary manslaughter after the smoke bomb they used at a gender reveal party started a massive wildfire. A gender reveal off the coast of Mexico last year also ended in tragedy when a plane announcing the baby’s gender crashed into the sea, killing two people on board.
“So many ways to have a gender reveal party and they chose only the one that has an environmental impact,” wrote Vanessa Costa, a Brazilian forest engineer and content creator. Twitter.
He added in an Instagram post: “The act of dyeing water is pollution. You are polluting these waters, and that is an environmental impact,” he said.
Another wrote: “Who needs drinking water when you have likes?”
“What happened to cutting a cake? Why is nature being ruined because these people think they’re special?” one social media critic responded to the waterfall stunt, The Independent reported.
