\n<\/p>\n
Sharks are getting a contact high as they swim through tropical waters, thanks in part to drug runners and careless tourists.<\/span><\/p>\n The buzz is real: Sharks swimming off the coast of Bermuda tested positive for cocaine, according to a new <\/span>study<\/span><\/a> published in the journal Environmental Pollution.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The apex predators of the sea have also ingested other substances from humans, including caffeine and over-the-counter painkillers, the study noted. It\u2019s all believed to be part of aquatic pollution generated by people on vacation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cPharmaceuticals and illicit drugs are increasingly recognized as contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) in marine environments, particularly in areas undergoing rapid urbanization and tourism-driven development,\u201d the researchers wrote in the study.<\/span><\/p>\n Caffeine was the most commonly found substance in the 85 specimens tested around the remote island of Eleuthera in the Bahamas. The study also detected acetaminophen and diclofenac, the active ingredients in Tylenol and Voltaren, as the next most common substances.<\/span><\/p>\n One of the sharks, a baby lemon shark in a nursery creek, tested positive for cocaine. Researchers said it was due to the animal biting down on discarded samples of the drug to determine what it was.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThey bite things to investigate and end up exposed,\u201d study author Natascha Wosnick <\/span>told<\/span><\/a> Science News of the findings. \u201cIt\u2019s mostly because people are going there, peeing in the water and dumping their sewage in the water,\u201d she told the outlet.<\/span><\/p>\n Sharks from other areas have tested positive for cocaine in the past, though none have tested positive in the Bahamas until this most recent study.<\/span><\/p>\n The topic of cocaine crazed animals was the hook of the 2023 film \u201cCocaine Bear\u201d directed by Elizabeth Banks. The film was loosely based on true events that occurred in 1985 when a 175-pound black bear died of a cocaine overdose in Georgia after consuming a duffel bag of drugs dropped by a smuggler.<\/span><\/p>\n Animals messing around with other toxic human substances have been making headlines lately. A viral video<\/a> of a squirrel chewing on a vape device in London started making the rounds online, which led to conversations about wild critters being attracted to the fruity-smelling devices.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIn the old days, you\u2019d see lots of discarded cigarette butts, but I don\u2019t remember squirrels running around with them,\u201d Craig Shuttleworth, a red squirrel expert in the U.K., <\/span>told<\/span><\/a> The Telegraph of the phenomenon. \u201cIt would be reasonable to assume that a vape would be more attractive than a normal tobacco product that\u2019s not fruity.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Unfortunately, the exposure to nicotine is harmful to squirrels and other wildlife.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n