Shark Week is here, and with it comes a mixed bag of entertaining shows to watch. One that has caught the attention of many is “Cocaine Sharks,” which explores the curious phenomenon of how sharks might interact with cocaine that ends up in the ocean due to its illegal transportation.
And while the experiments were preliminary, the research scientist and program manager at NOAA who was part of the experiments that were filmed in Key West says the show sheds light on a pressing issue – the presence of drugs in our waterways and its potential impact on marine life. “There’s a lot of legitimacy to [the] clickbait headline,” says Floridian Dr. Tracy Fanara, whose environmental engineering expertise and work focuses on chemical transport and ocean currents. “While we were in the Keys filming, cocaine bales were washing ashore, like twice in one week, so it’s really a prevalent issue.”
In just nine distinct operations earlier this year, the US Coast Guard successfully retrieved a staggering $275 million worth of drugs from both the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Florida serves as a major entry point for drugs into the US due to its geographical location and extensive coastline, making it a strategic location for drug trafficking routes. US law enforcement agencies are constantly working to combat drug trafficking activities here, implementing measures to intercept illegal shipments which can often lead to bags washing ashore. This raises concerns about its effects on marine life, as sharks follow ocean currents, and there is a strong possibility they might come into contact with the drug.
“[This show sheds] light on a real problem, that everything we use, everything we manufacture, everything we put into our bodies, ends up in our wastewater streams and natural water bodies, and these aquatic life we depend on to survive are then exposed to that,” Fanara told The Guardian. “If these cocaine bales are a point source of pollution, it’s very plausible (sharks) can be affected by this chemical.”
With this in mind, Fanara and British marine biologist Tom ‘Blowfish’ Hird set out to the Keys to carry out some experiments with a Shark Week camera crew in tow. According to Fanara, numerous studies have explored the presence of drugs in water bodies, as these substances are frequently detected in waterways and have been known to affect aquatic life. For example, a 2021 study discovered that methamphetamine triggers addiction and alters the behavior of brown trout. When exposed to the drug, these fish experience changes in their movement and can even undergo withdrawal symptoms! The presence of such drugs in bodies of water is often attributed to their introduction through sewage transported via wastewater plants. “This is a real issue and we’re not making any new water. […] The same water we’ll have 1,000 years from now is the same water we had 1,000 years ago,” Fanara said, adding that our water supply passes through wastewater treatment systems and subsequently returns to water bodies, eventually becoming the water we consume.
However, none of the previous studies have specifically examined the effects of drugs on sharks. “My goal of this experiment was to shed light on the real problem of chemicals in our waterways and impacting our aquatic life and then eventually impacting us,” Fanara said. Once in the Keys, Fanara and Hird dropped fake bales resembling cocaine into the water to observe sharks’ behavioral responses. Specifically, they wanted to see whether the sharks were drawn to the fake cocaine bales and if they chose them over their regular food. Additionally, the duo exposed the sharks to a stimulant similar to cocaine to observe their behavior when subjected to it. “Obviously we can’t give sharks cocaine, especially not in the wild, despite the fact it would’ve been a much more accurate study — it’s just not ethical.”
Cocaine is a potent and addictive stimulant, which typically induces feelings of energy and euphoria in users while causing physical changes in the body as well such as increased body temperature, heart rate, and blood pressure, along with potential long-term effects on the brain, according to the National Institutes of Health. How this would translate into a fish is unknown but Fanara says, “[Hird] did notice some strange behavior, but there’s no telling whether the shark behavior changes were associated with exposure to cocaine or if it was just a coincidence. Definitely, more research must be done.” Hird adds: “It’s the next best thing and set their brains aflame. It was crazy.”
The primary objective of the study was to determine whether this research question warranted further exploration, and the answer according to the duo is a resounding “yes.”
“We already know fish have been contaminated with these pharmaceuticals with these recreational drugs,” Fanara said. “So, we really need to make some major changes in our water treatment processes and also just in our ethics and behaviors and our activities day to day, because it’s not just these recreational drugs that are entering waterways, it’s our sunscreens, our insecticides, our herbicides, our fertilizers — all of that just washes into our natural waterways and becomes part of the ecosystem.”
The show hopes to not only spark intrigue, but also serve as a call to action to protect our marine environments. By understanding the impact of drugs on aquatic life, we can take meaningful steps to preserve our oceans and be more mindful of our impact on the environment.
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