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.
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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.