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In what could have been the unlikely plot of a low-budget thriller but is, in fact, a scientific study, traces of cocaine were found in sharpnose sharks off the coast of Brazil. It’s a worrying discovery that speaks to a rising environmental issue that reaches beyond usual suspects such as microplastics and oil pollution. In part, the discovery team says, this cocaine in marine life may be because of increased drug use in Brazil, combined with low sewage treatment, runoff from cocaine production, and bags of the drug floating in the ocean. These may contribute to how the drug finally...

Sharks off the coast of Brazil have tested positive for cocaine, scientists say. Marine biologists tested 13 Brazilian sharpnose sharks taken from the shores near Rio de Janeiro and found they tested for high levels of cocaine in their muscles and livers. The concentrations were as much as 100 times higher than previously reported for other aquatic creatures. Experts believe the cocaine is making its way into the waters via illegal labs where the drug is manufactured or through excrement of drug users. Packs of cocaine lost or dumped by traffickers at sea could also be a source, though this...

For decades, huge bundles of cocaine have washed up on Florida beaches, having been smuggled from South and Central America. Hauls are often dumped at sea (both to give to smugglers and evade law enforcement), and currents and tides push them to shore. In June, the U.S. Coast Guard seized over 14,100 pounds (6,400 kilograms) of cocaine in the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean, with an estimated value of $186 million. With so much cocaine entering the waters, Tom "The Blowfish" Hird wanted to find out whether the thousands of sharks off Florida were ingesting the dumped narcotics, and —...