SCIENTISTS FIND ASTOUNDING LEVELS OF COCAINE IN BRAZILIAN SHARPNOSE SHARKS
Well, this is interesting and fairly disturbing news. Apparently, sharks are now testing positive for cocaine. And by positive, we’re talking about very positive. Scientists have found trace amounts of cocaine in other aquatic animals. But these sharks tested positive for cocaine in concentrations that were up to 100 times higher than we’ve ever seen before. Marine biologists made the startling discovery on the shoreline near Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, in 13 Brazilian sharpnose sharks. And it isn’t just a recent exposure to the White Lady, as they found these concentrations in their muscle tissue and livers.
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SHARPNOSE SHARKS HAD 100 TIMES MORE COCAINE IN THEIR SYSTEMS THAN EVER SEEN BEFORE
The research was done by scientists working with the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, and their discovery is the first time anyone has found cocaine in sharks, to any degree. But these levels are more than startling. Sara Novais, a marine eco-toxicologist at the Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre of the Polytechnic University of Leiria, said the findings are “very important and potentially worrying.” Considering this is a new discovery, I would say so. Especially as all the female sharpnose sharks in this study were pregnant, and we have no idea yet if exposure to cocaine will do to the fetuses.
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WILL COCAINE MAKE SHARKS MORE AGGRESSIVE? AND HOW WILL THAT TRANSLATE WITH BIGGER SHARKS?
So where is this cocaine coming from? There are several possibilities, including illegal local drug labs, or the human waste getting to the ocean from people using cocaine. There’s also the possibility that drug smugglers who lost or dumped bricks of cocaine in the ocean could be to blame. But lost or dumped cocaine is unlikely to be a chronic source of exposure to result in these levels of cocaine found in these Brazilian sharpnose sharks. And how will this affect these sharks behavior? Because if it makes them more aggressive and moody, that could translate badly with bigger sharks, like tiger, bull or great whites.
