Washington

Thousands of sharks off Florida coast may have become addicted to cocaine, a new study has recently revealed.

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According to the researchers, these marine animals have been feasting on large amounts of narcotics that are getting dumped into the ocean.

For decades, the drug peddlers have been using the Florida coast to smuggle huge bundles of cocaine from South to Central America.

These bales of narcotics—which are often dumped at sea as it helps smugglers avoid law enforcement—find their way to the shore aided by tides and currents.

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In June, the US Coast Guard seized over 14,100 pounds (6,400kg) of cocaine in the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean, with an estimated value of $186 million.

Discovery's documentary on cocaine sharks

As so much cocaine was entering the waters, US marine biologist Tom Hird, who is also called ‘The Blowfish’, wanted to see whether sharks off the coast of Florida were ingesting the narcotics.

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To find out, he made a documentary for Discovery's Shark Week called Cocaine Sharks. University of Florida environmental scientist Tracy Fanara also took part in the study, reported LiveScience.

For their experiment, they went to the Florida Keys archipelago to investigate reports that sharks are “high” on drugs.

During a dive, they found a hammerhead shark and a sandbar shark behaving awkwardly.

The experiment 

To test the reports, they dropped packages that looked like bales of cocaine. They observed that sharks were swimming straight to the packages and biting into them.

"I think we have got a potential scenario of what it may look like if you gave sharks cocaine," Hird said in the film.

"We gave them what I think is the next best thing. [It] set [their] brains aflame. It was crazy."

Notably, the scientists said that they weren’t convinced whether the sharks are indeed consuming cocaine. They also don't know what the true effects of the substance on marine creatures would be. They said that these experiments need to be done repeatedly to draw full conclusions. 

"We have no idea what [cocaine] could do to the shark," Hird told Live Science, adding that of the limited research that's been done, different fish appear to react in different ways to the same chemical.

"So, we can't even say well this is a baseline and go from here," he said. 

He hoped that the show will lead to more research in the area, and that he'd like to carry out more tests.

(With inputs from agencies)

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