Believe or not. Recent research has revealed that sharks off the coast of Brazil have been found with traces of cocaine in their systems. This discovery was made by marine biologists from the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, who tested 13 Brazilian sharpnose sharks (Rhizoprionodon lalandii) and found high levels of cocaine and its primary metabolite, benzoylecgonine, in their muscles and livers.
The contamination is believed to stem from multiple sources, including illegal drug labs and human excretion that ends up in the ocean via sewage outflows. This phenomenon is concerning because it indicates a significant environmental impact from drug trafficking and improper waste disposal. 1)
1) Gabriel de Farias Araujo, Luan Valdemiro Alves de Oliveira, Rodrigo Barcellos Hoff, Natascha Wosnick, Marcelo Vianna, Silvani Verruck, Rachel Ann Hauser-Davis, Enrico Mendes Saggioro,
“Cocaine Shark”: First report on cocaine and benzoylecgonine detection in sharks,
Science of The Total Environment,
Volume 948, 2024, 174798,
ISSN 0048-9697,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.174798.