A couple in Brazil turned a waterfall blue for their gender reveal party. Now they're reportedly under investigation for environmental damage.
A Brazilian couple has come under online fire for dyeing a waterfall blue in a gender reveal.
The video appears to show the Queima Pé river, which is located in drought-stricken region of Brazil.
Local officials are investigating the incident for ecological damage.
A Brazilian couple has enraged the internet — and reportedly the Brazilian government — after a video of them turning a waterfall into an unnatural, electric blue on September 25 for a gender reveal party circulated.
The video was reportedly posted to their social media accounts before later being deleted, and shows the waterfall rushing Gatorade-"Frost"-blue and a crowd of people celebrating among blue and pink balloons, a giant balloon, and a canister emitting blue smoke.
The unidentified couple reportedly deleted the original video but it has since been uploaded onto multiple social media platforms.
The river, identified as the Queima Pé river, is a popular tourist destination in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso and a primary water source for the nearby central-west town of Tangará da Serra.
The video garnered thousands of views across multiple Reddit threads. Commenters expressed outrage and disbelief. "What happened to cutting into a cake," wrote Redditor @devil1fish, "Why does nature keep getting damaged because these people think they're special?"
The Secretary of State for the Environment of Mato Grosso (SEMA) released a statement saying that it would be investigating the couple to determine what products were used to dye the waterfall and if there is any environmental damage. The statement, published by Brazilian news site G1, noted that six officials — two from SEMA and four from the municipality of Tangará da Serra — were on-site investigating the incident.
Gender reveal parties have come under fire in recent years not just for their outdated notions about gender, but also because so many seem to go horribly wrong. A 2020 gender reveal started a 10,000-acre fire in California, and in 2019, a woman was killed after her family "inadvertently" set off a pipe bomb during a gender reveal video.
Surprisingly, the unidentified Brazilians aren't the only people dyeing natural bodies of water as part of a gender reveal celebration. A quick search on TikTok will show you videos of waterfalls rushing bubblegum pink and babbling electric blue streams.
@countrygal2525 #genderreveal#waterfall#viral#unique#wvproud#cantwait ♬ original sound - user2370997310363
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