Scientists are warning that sharks may be ingesting cocaine dumped into the ocean by drug traffickers, potentially affecting their behavior. Researchers have suggested that sharks might be consuming the drug as a result of illegal drug labs discarding their chemical waste into the sea.
A team of researchers in Brazil has discovered that Brazilian sharpnose sharks swimming in the coastal waters of South America have significant levels of cocaine and its byproducts in their system.
Unlike Hollywood’s depictions of coked-up predators on drug-fueled rampages, the effects of the illicit stimulant on key species in the marine food chain could be less obvious yet far more concerning.
The team, led by environmental scientist Gabriel de Farias Araujo from the Oswaldo Cruz Institute in Brazil, found high concentrations of cocaine in every one of the 13 juvenile and young adult Brazilian sharp nose sharks (Rhizoprionodon lalandii) they tested”
Zebrafish embryos exposed to cocaine show lower cell viability and increased DNA fragmentation. In 2018, a study found that European eels displayed altered muscle physiology in response to environmental concentrations of the drug.
Pharmaceutical pollution is a global concern, with over a quarter of the world’s waterways containing high levels of active ingredients, posing risks to ecosystems and human health.
Water samples from the Bay of Santos in 2017 contained as much cocaine as caffeine, both entering the waterways through sewage after being excreted by consumers.
Brazil’s illegal refining facilities, along with drug packages lost or discarded by traffickers within the nation’s ports, contribute to the pollution problem. Cocaine easily accumulates in marine organisms, (posing a risk to higher-order consumers.)
Cocaine and benzoylecgonine were found to be up to a hundred times more concentrated in sharks than in other marine organisms, suggesting that (cocaine can accumulate in the food chain.)
If the thought of sharks hanging out just off the coast wasn’t scary enough, now there are reports of sharks exposed to cocaine. This raises questions about the impact of the drug. In addition to that, various other substances such as antibiotics, antidepressants, pharmaceuticals, sunscreen, insecticides, and fertilizers are also finding their way into our ecosystem.
2 Chronicles 7:13 If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send diseases among my people;
2 Chronicles 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
2 Chronicles 7:15 Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attend unto the prayer that is made in this place
Luke 21:11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and diseases; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
Luke 21:25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;
Luke 21:28 And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.
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