![]() ![]() The trout that had previously been exposed to the drug chose the meth-laced water, particularly in the first four days after being removed from the research tank. In another experiment, the fish were given the choice to enter two streams of water, one of which was clean while the other contained trace amounts of meth. In a separate tank, 60 control trout were kept in drug-free water.Īfter being removed from the methamphetamine-laced water, the fish were less active and a brain tissue analysis found that the trout that moved the least had the highest concentrations of the drug in their systems. Researchers said the samples, obtained from 93 fish over a three-year period, highlighted the deficiencies of outdated wastewater treatment facilities to effectively filter out contaminants.Ī 2021 European study, meanwhile, found that brown trout could become addicted to methamphetamine due to traces of the drug flowing downstream of wastewater treatment plants.įor two months, researchers dosed 60 captive-bred brown trout with water containing the same amount of methamphetamine - one microgram per litre - that had been documented near wastewater treatment plants in Czechia and Slovakia. Still, he hopes the experiments will prompt scientists to look further into the issue, noting that other drugs and pharmaceuticals, like amphetamines, antidepressants and birth control also drift into the ocean and interact with sharks and other marine life.Ī study out of Florida International University, published last year, found 58 different drugs in a sample of bonefish off South Florida’s coastal waters, including one fish that had 16 drugs in its system. ![]() Hird admits that the reactions could be influenced by a variety of factors and the experiments would need to be repeated to draw any accurate conclusions about how sharks might react to drugs in ocean waters. In another experiment, sharks quickly moved in after the team dropped fake cocaine bales from an airplane. “We gave them what I think is the next best thing.” “I think we have got a potential scenario of what it may look like if you gave sharks cocaine,” Hird said. In another experiment, researchers use bait containing a concentration of fish power to replicate the dopamine rush of cocaine and the sharks reacted immediately. In one instance, researchers dropped the fake bales alongside imitation swans and the sharks bypassed the birds in favour of the bales, with one shark swimming off with a package as others chomped on the bales. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The packages, which do not contain any cocaine, replicate the size and appearance of the drug bales. The researchers then launched a series of experiments, documented in “Cocaine Sharks,” which is part of Discovery’s Shark Week, to see how the sharks react to dummy “cocaine” bales in the water. Hird and Fanara dove into the waters in the Florida Keys to monitor how sharks in the area were behaving and quickly noticed some unusual behaviour, like a great hammerhead that displayed no trepidation toward humans and appeared to be swimming off-kilter, and a sandbar shark swimming in tight, repetitive circles. man says he doesn't regret saving a moose calf off the side of a highway despite losing his job Meet the dogs being trained to sniff out superbugs in Canadian hospitals. ![]() “The deeper story here is the way that chemicals, pharmaceuticals and illicit drugs are entering our waterways - entering our oceans - and what effect that they then could go on to have on these delicate ocean ecosystems,” Hird told Live Science. To better understand how sharks might be reacting to the drug, marine biologist Tom Hird and University of Florida environmental scientist Tracy Fanara recently carried out a series of experiments in Florida waters, using replica bales of cocaine. Manage Print Subscription / Tax Receipt. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |