Scientists Keep Finding Cocaine Sharks Off the Coast of Brazil

Amaze Lab

Brazilian sharpnose sharks swimming off the coast of South America are being found with cocaine in their systems. This is a growing concern, especially as many species face extinction.

Transcript

00:00You may have heard of the cocaine bear, but how about cocaine sharks?

00:08Brazilian sharp-nosed sharks swimming up the coast of South America are being found with

00:12that very drug in their systems.

00:14The researchers say that significant doses of cocaine and its metabolites were found

00:19in one in every 13 of the creatures they tested.

00:22So what does this mean?

00:23Well, other creatures, such as the zebrafish, have less viable embryos after having been

00:27exposed to cocaine.

00:28Other studies have found the European eels have muscle physiology that is not congruent

00:32with their non-drugged counterparts.

00:34The waters around Brazil are particularly affected by cocaine pollution, with a study

00:39from 2017 finding it had as much of that drug as it did caffeine, caffeine being a common

00:44pharmaceutical metric against which other contaminants are measured.

00:48Cocaine moves through the food chain starting at the bottom, being absorbed repeatedly by

00:52algae, crustaceans, and fish, and accumulating before larger creatures eat them.

00:57This reveals a tragic future for marine creatures, as a third of shark species around the world

01:03are currently facing extinction.

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