Anecdotal reports of the effects of cocaine trafficking sharks It is confirmed by the first study of its kind, which detected the drug in all samples tested in Brazil.
Apparently, sharks were first linked to cocaine with last year’s film Cocaine shark a B movie about mutant fish with killer instincts.
A few months after the premiere of the film, a documentary came out Cocaine shark He investigated whether sharks in the Gulf of Mexico accept cocaine packets lost at sea by smugglers.
Lost packages may be a source of pollution in Brazilian waters, but more likely comes from sewage from illegal cocaine processing labs, researchers in a new study in the journal say. General Environmental Science.
A team of marine biologists collected 13 species of stingrays from fishermen in Rio de Janeiro. Rhizoprionodon terraenovaewhich are often close to shores.
It tested positive for cocaine at concentrations 100 times higher than those recorded in all other marine species, with the drug concentrated in the muscles and liver.
It is not clear whether the fish are directly exposed to seawater, the fish they consume, or the quantities lost to the sea.
In any case, the findings highlight an “increased risk of contamination with cocaine,” University of Naples endocrinologist Ava Capaldo, who was not involved in the study, commented in the journal Science.
Previous studies have shown that cocaine is toxic to molluscs, crustaceans and teleosts, bony fish. The same may be true of chondrichthyans, the group to which sharks belong, fish with skeletons made of cartilage.
One concern is that cocaine may inhibit the production of biotelogen, a substance found in the yolk of shark eggs. Potentially, this could have a serious impact on the local population.
The researchers also note that sharks are a popular food in Brazil. Cocaine can even pose risks to public health if the levels are high.