Fentanyl and other narcotics have been found by researchers in bottlenose dolphins from the Gulf of Mexico.
Actually made by accident, this finding was first made in 2020 while conducting a routine sailing survey.
According to KRIS 6 News, during their search, the team of marine biologists discovered a dead dolphin floating in the water.
The method by which the marine biologists returned the dolphin to their laboratory is described in the same KRIS 6 News piece. They discovered the presence of the medications after analyzing the hormone blubber from the carcass.
Doctoral student Makayla Guinn tells the news station that when I began this investigation, we conducted what is known as an untargeted analysis of the blubber, putting it in a very sophisticated device that can resolve all the components inside.
A third of the dolphins the researchers examined had pharmaceuticals in their systems, according to a report released by Texas A&M University Corpus-Christi, with whom the marine biologists later collaborated to carry out this study.
According to Guinn, the presence of drugs in dolphins indicates that the drugs are either in the water or in the prey that the dolphins are eating.
She goes on to say: Since it’s not what we were searching for, we were naturally concerned to discover something similar to fentanyl, particularly in light of the current global fentanyl problem.
These medications and medicines are getting into our waterways and affecting our marine life in a cascade of ways.
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