Sharks on Drugs

FACT: Abandoned bricks of cocaine wash ashore every year off the coast of Florida from drug smugglers evading the Coast Guard. FICTION: We need to be worried about cocaine fueled sharks. Your host Kasha Patel imagines what would happen if sharks consumed that cocaine and explores the science behind it. 

• “Behavioral screening for cocaine sensitivity in mutagenized zebrafish,” by Tristan Darland and John E. Dowling 
• “Yes, ‘Cocaine Bear’ Was Real. Here’s the Back Story.” by Amanda Holpuch 
• Powdered Cocaine Fast Facts, by National Drug Intelligence Center 
• “Are ‘Cocaine Sharks’ Really Scarfing Down Drugs off Florida’s Coasts?” by: Jack Timisiea 
• “How sharks recycle toxic ammonia to keep their skin moist,” by University of British Columbia 
• “Are whale sharks exposed to persistent organic pollutants and plastic pollution in the Gulf of California (Mexico)? First ecotoxicological investigation using skin biopsies,” by Maria Cristina Fossi, Matteo Baini, Cristina Panti, Matteo Galli, Begoña Jiménez, Juan Muñoz-Arnanz, Letizia Marsili, Maria Grazia Finoia, Dení Ramírez-Macías 
• NBC News Learn: Ocean Acidification 
• Uptake of human pharmaceuticals in bull sharks (Carcharhinus leucas) inhabiting a wastewater-impacted river 
• WPLG Local 10: Keys locals find hauls of cocaine worth over $2 million 
• Business Insider: Tracking Drug Smugglers And Unauthorized Migrants With The Coast Guard In Miami 
• Animal Fact Files: Nurse Shark Facts: why a NURSE? 🦈 Animal Fact Files 
• The Verge: Italy’s eels have a cocaine problem 

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