After a massive - and unnecessary - search for a man spotted on an ice floe in the St. Clair River, Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley has harsh words.

And he is demanding answers from a naval commander and the Minister of National Defence.

It was a naval reservist who decided to take a ride on an ice floe on Saturday night  - and in turn prompted a wide-scale search of the area near the Blue Water Bridge.

Bradley is angered by the concern, costs and poor example set by the London man.

The stunt can be seen on YouTube and it might look like an intriguing first-person perspective of a trip down the St. Clair River on an ice floe.

But to the mayor of Sarnia, it’s plain wrong.

"This is the actions of an idiot that should not have occurred because he put people's lives in jeopardy," he says.

The mayor witnessed the search Saturday night and he was worried.

But when Bradley later learned it was a man riding an ice floe, he and Sarnia first responders become angered.

The anger boiled over when it was discovered the man is a 32-year-old naval reservist.

On Tuesday, Bradley penned a letter to his naval commander and the Minister of National Defence, after reading the reservist stated he was simply on a "training" run.

“In media reports he just brushed it off that the responders need the training any how and there was no concern about the great cost, the concern of the people to be out on the river in the winter months,” Bradley says.

But the naval reservist in the video told CTV News he never stated he was training as part of a military exercise. He also said he has been going on ice floe runs for the past six years without incident.

"Before my last run a reporter...asked me a few questions... I let the reporter know that I was a trained military diver in hopes of displaying that I was proficient in the water, he said.

"I specifically told him it was not a military exercise or military training. When I told him I was “training" I was referring to cardiovascular exercise. Yet his article made it seem as though I was on a military exercise. This is where the problem started."

Bradley received a call from the Lieutenant Commander of the Prevost stating a formal apology was on its way and the matter is under internal review.

Another naval commander from Victoria tells CTV News that riding an ice floe alone is not considered a naval exercise.

"I am aware that what he did had nothing to do with the military at the time and I'll tell you it brings some level of concern,” says Lt.-Comdr. Desmond James.

“Everything he was doing was on his own time. It’s an incident we would not expect.”

James says there is an internal investigation under way.

Bradley just hopes the reservist apologizes.

"A man of honour would apologize and when you wait five or six days, you wonder as a community, how sincere will it be, if it ever does come."