![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/SEI_290987812-a397.jpg\")
\n\t\tSharks, much like people, can become more aggressive on cocaine (Picture: Getty Images)<\/p>\n
\t\t
\n\t\tSharks, much like people, can become more aggressive on cocaine (Picture: Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water\u2026 <\/p>\n
Sharks<\/a> could be showing more aggression after chomping down on cocaine spilled by tourists in the Caribbean Sea, according to a study published in\u00a0Environmental Pollution.<\/a><\/p>\n Scientists found nearly 30 sharks, spanning three species, that tested positive for drugs after being caught by a remote island off the coast of the Bahamas.<\/p>\n The most common was caffeine, followed by acetaminophen and diclofenac, the active ingredients in painkillers Tylenol and Voltaren.<\/p>\n But two of the prehistoric fish tested positive for cocaine.<\/p>\n \t\t \t\t \t\t The sharks tested exhibited changes in metabolic markers, including lactate and urea. <\/p>\n But it remains to be seen how these changes might impact their behaviour.<\/p>\n Most sharks were caught about four miles offshore, around an inactive fish farm popular with divers. <\/p>\n It remains unclear how the drugs entered their bloodstream. Experts say currents could carry drug traces from sewage, but divers are the more likely culprits.<\/p>\n \u2018Pharmaceuticals and illicit drugs are increasingly recognised as contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) in marine environments, particularly in areas undergoing rapid urbanisation and tourism-driven development,\u2019 scientists said.<\/p>\n Natascha Wosnick of the Federal University of Paran\u00e1 in Brazil<\/a>,\u00a0told Science News<\/a>: \u2018It\u2019s mostly because people are going there, peeing in the water and dumping their sewage in the water.<\/p>\n \u2018They bite things to investigate and end up exposed.\u2019<\/p>\n Research in goldfish suggests caffeine increases their energy and focus, Wosnick says, much as it does in humans.<\/p>\n \t\t Several fishermen have claimed to have seen sharks savaging their way through dumped bricks of cocaine dumped by drug traffickers.<\/p>\n Hammerheads normally avoid humans, but one filmed for Shark Week came straight for divers, swimming at a strange angle.<\/p>\n Tracy Fanara, not part of the project but produced a documentary on Cocaine Sharks, says that the findings are \u2018a reminder that coastal infrastructure, tourism<\/a> and marine food webs are tightly connected.\u2019<\/p>\n \t\t\t\tEffects of cocaine on humans\t\t\t<\/p>\n The NHS says cocaine (hydrochloride) is a highly addictive drug. It acts as a short lived central nervous system stimulant and local anaesthetic.<\/p>\n Common effects of cocaine include:<\/p>\n anxiety Longer term effects of using cocaine can include:<\/p>\n dependency<\/p>\n damage to the heart<\/p>\n mood swings<\/p>\n poor sleeping patterns<\/p>\n impotence<\/p>\n malnutrition due to suppressed appetite<\/p>\n difficulties managing your mental health <\/p>\n Arrow Arrow Arrow![\"Aerial](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/GettyImages-1940490113.jpg\")
\n\t\tIt is the first time cocaine has been detected in sharks off the Bahamas (Picture: Getty Images)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1-s2.0-S0269749126001880-ga1_lrg-8145.jpg\")
\n\t\tScientists have found traces of cocaine in the blood of sharks swimming in the deep blue waters of the Bahamas for the first time (Picture: Environmental Pollution<\/a>)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/GettyImages-520902572-65e3.jpg\")
\n\t\tCircling sharks could be high on cocaine (Credits: Getty Images)<\/p>\n![\"?Cocaine](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/SEI_213821860-fc55.jpg\")
\n\t\tSewage containing cocaine is thought to be spilling into the sea where sharks ingest it (Picture: Science Direct)<\/p>\n
\nconfidence
\ndilated pupils
\nenergy
\neuphoria
\nincreased heart rate
\nparanoia
\nrestlessness<\/p>\n
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