Be Wary of Drug-Crazed Sharks?

It may be a clickbait headline but it seems there is some truth in the rumor that sharks are picking up consignments of cocaine that have been dumped when drug runners get pursued off the coast of Florida.

Tiger sharks are scavengers that have been discovered with a wide range of interesting items in their stomachs including car tires and pots of paint, so it's not extraordinary they might find a bail of cocaine appetizing.

NOAA researchers made experiments because large amounts of cocaine, often being brought to the U.S. on boats, wash up on the coast annually, especially in the Florida Keys. Only last June, the Coast Guard announced it found 14,153 pounds of cocaine in the ocean near Miami. The drugs were worth more than $186 million.

Sharks may be consuming cocaine dumped in the waters off Florida and it could be making them act in crazy ways, scientists have said. Experts in chemical transport and ocean currents say if cocaine bales follow the ocean current, much like fish and sharks, there is a strong likelihood sharks are coming in contact with the drug.