Sharks on cocaine? Maybe.
Drug smugglers are known to dump packaged cocaine into Florida waters, sometimes sinking, sometimes washing ashore.
Marine biologist Tom Hird is concerned that sharks are eating the drugs and maybe even getting high. In an upcoming episode of Discovery’s Shark Week called Cocaine Sharks, Hird explores the possibility.
Hird’s concerns don’t seem so crazy when you do a Google search on drugs in Florida waters. In 2020, a fisherman found $1.2 million worth of coke floating in the Flordia Keys. Last month the U.S. Coast Guard intercepted over 14,100 pounds of cocaine worth over $186 million in the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean.
“The deeper story here is the way that chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and illicit drugs are entering our waterways — entering our oceans — and what effect that they then could go on to have on these delicate ocean ecosystems,” Hird told Live Science.
During Cocaine Sharks, Hird and University of Florida research scientist Tracy Fanara create a series of experiments. These include planting fake bales of coke in the water, creating dopamine-inducing “fish powder,” and simulating a drug drop by tossing bales of fake cocaine into the water from an airplane.
You’ll have to watch the show to get the details, but according to Live Science, Hird hopes it will bring awareness and more research in the area to carry out testing, including on tissue and blood samples, to find out whether there is evidence of cocaine or other toxins in sharks.
Watch Cocaine Sharks on the Discovery Channel on Wednesday, July 26, at 10 p.m.
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