Overview
- Peer-reviewed research in Environmental Pollution tested 85 sharks near Eleuthera Island and found 28 with human-made chemicals in their blood.
- Caffeine showed up most often with 27 detections, cocaine appeared in two sharks, and the team also detected paracetamol and the anti-inflammatory diclofenac.
- The paper reports first-ever detections of caffeine and paracetamol in sharks and the first record of cocaine and diclofenac in sharks in the Bahamas.
- Detections clustered at a site called Aquaculture Cage where tourist boats anchor for long stretches, which the authors say points to localized exposure from wastewater.
- Sharks with contaminants showed blood chemistry changes consistent with stress, the study did not find unusual behavior, and the authors call for better wastewater management and follow-up monitoring, noting similar drug findings in sharks off Brazil and in Florida.