Cocaine sharks are swimming in the seas of Brazil. The source of the drug will disgust you

Scientists have made a shocking discovery in sharks off the coast of Brazil. A group of marine biologists say that they have found cocaine in the sharks swimming in the area, and they fear that the drug might be making them behave differently. The cocaine was found inside the muscles and livers of 13 sharks of the Brazilian sharpnose type taken from near Rio de Janeiro. The biologists, in a paper published in the journal Science of the Total Environment, say that the drug probably came from drains linked to illicit labs where cocaine is manufactured. Another disturbing theory is that the drug entered the sea from the excrement of drug users, via untreated sewage.

Further, since tonnes of cocaine are dumped into the seas by the drug smugglers themselves, chances are that the sharks end up feeding on these bales of cocaine. However, as per the scientists, this seems to be the least viable theory. Dr Rachel Ann Hauser-Davis, a British scientist and member of the research team from the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation in Rio de Janeiro, told the Telegraph, that not a lot of "bales of coke are dumped or lost at sea here, unlike in Mexico and Florida".

When the researchers dissected the small sharks, they found shockingly high concentrations of cocaine in them. The quantity was up to 100 times higher than previously detected in other marine animals, and “worrying” for the marine ecosystem.

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Dr Rachel added that the finding shows “chronic exposure due to human use of cocaine in Rio de Janeiro and the discharge of human urine and faeces by sewage outfalls, as well as from illegal labs".

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How is cocaine affecting the health of the sharks

She further said that cocaine is in all likelihood affecting the health of the sharks. However, they don't know if it is also making them more aggressive and unpredictable, causing crazed behaviour or feeding frenzies.

Dr Enrico Mendes Saggioro, an ecotoxicologist from the Oswaldo Cruz Institute, said that this might be happening since the drug "targets the brain, and hyperactive and erratic behaviour has been noted in other animals."

Other experts say that the cocaine might be affecting their eyesight, inhibiting their ability to hunt. The drug might also be reducing the life expectancy of these sharks.

The discovery creates a disturbing scenario for the environment with chemicals polluting it and altering the ecosystem in the process.