Alarming: the aggressive behavior of sharks is due to the drugs they throw into the sea

2023-08-05 20:14:00

The growing aggressive behavior which is seen in most sharks who live on the coast of the city of Florida, USAis a direct consequence of the drugs that are thrown into the sea, as revealed by a recent study prepared by a team of marine biologists from the University of Florida.

To carry out the work, the researchers stayed for six days in the sea off the Florida Keys, with the objective of Observe closely and carefully the behavior of sharks.

Thus, during that period, they carried out a series of experiments dropping bait bags with highly concentrated fish powder to simulate cocaineand the response was as surprising as it was worrying for the researchers.

“The effect was similar to that of catnip in cats, Turn on their brains. It was crazy. A shark bit into one of the packages and took it with it, while a stubby shark swam in circles, something totally foreign to that species. It’s like they’ve both been drugged.” commented British marine biologist Tom Hirdin charge of the research, in an interview with Discovery’s Shark Week TV show..

There’s been an increasing amount of news around shark attacks. In fact, scientists are studying what’s making sharks become so aggressive. And there’s now a possible answer: drugs in the water. But this also potentially impacts humans.

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Now, Hird and his team of collaborators will seek to partner with other Florida marine scientists with the goal of take blood samples from some of the sharks to assess what drugs they are ingesting and at what levels.

“This is the only place in the world where a shark could come into contact with such massive doses of cocaine. We have seen studies with cocaine, methamphetamine and ketamine, All these, where the fish are being affected by drugsHird stated.

“I fully believe it’s real, especially with the amount of cocaine being laundered in Florida, And that is only what reaches the beach since it does not include the things that are trapped in the sea. Because cocaine is soluble in water, a shark swimming in the vicinity of a damaged package could theoretically get high from simple contact”, he concluded.