Overview
- Researchers sampled 85 sharks around Eleuthera Island and found 28 with detectable levels of caffeine, acetaminophen, diclofenac and cocaine.
- Contamination was confirmed in Caribbean reef, Atlantic nurse and lemon sharks, while blacktip and tiger sharks were sampled without detections.
- Sharks that carried these compounds showed shifts in body chemistry, including changes in triglycerides, urea and lactate linked to stress and metabolism.
- The team points to sewage and heavy tourist use as likely routes for these substances to enter coastal waters, with possible exposure from discarded drug packets.
- The paper reports first records of caffeine and acetaminophen in any shark and first records of cocaine and diclofenac in Bahamian sharks, prompting calls for better wastewater controls and follow-up monitoring.