Sharks swimming in the Caribbean are fueled by a cocktail of drugs dumped into the water by human pollution. Researchers have discovered that sharks in the Bahamas are testing positive for substances including cocaine, caffeine, and painkillers. The findings, published in the journal Environmental Pollution, were based on scientists’ analysis of blood samples from 85 sharks off the coast of Eleuthera, one of the most remote islands in the Bahamas. Of those tested, 28 sharks from three different species tested positive for drugs. Two of the sharks had cocaine in their system. Caffeine and painkiller compounds were far more common in the tested sharks, pointing to widespread pollution seeping even into relatively remote waters. Scientists say the exposure to cocaine could be caused by the sharks biting into things, like packets of drugs, out of curiosity. “They bite things to investigate and end up exposed,” researcher Natascha Wosnick of the Federal University of Paraná told Science News. The study’s authors said the findings point to a broader issue: rising levels of pharmaceutical and illicit waste, linked to urbanization and tourism, that are entering marine ecosystems.
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