It's Time to Take the "Sharknado" Movies in a New Direction!

[Anderton]

Sharks on cocaine - welcome to the apocalypse!! I guess the good news is that if you eat shark at your local seafood restaurant, you might not need a cup of coffee afterwards:

 

Sharks living off the coast of Brazil have tested positive for cocaine, according to new research, the first time that the drug has been detected in free-ranging sharks.

 

Scientists tested 13 Brazilian sharpnose sharks in the waters off the city of Rio de Janeiro and found cocaine present in both the liver and muscle tissue of all 13 specimens, according to a paper by researchers at the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation in Brazil sent to CNN on Tuesday.

The species was chosen due to its small size and the fact that it lives in a small area of coastal waters, where it is exposed to significant contaminant discharges for its entire life cycle, according to the study. Cocaine levels were around three times higher in muscle tissue than liver tissue, according to the study, while female sharks had higher cocaine concentrations in muscle tissue compared to males.

Cocaine pollutes the sea due to sewage discharges from humans who use the drug, as well as the illegal laboratories that produce it, study co-author Enrico Mendes Saggioro, an ecotoxicologist at the foundation, told CNN on Tuesday.

 

Cocaine consumption has risen massively around the world in recent decades, according to the study. Around 22% of users live in South America, the paper added, with Brazil the second largest consumer market in the region. Increased consumption and poor sewage treatment infrastructure has made for increased cocaine levels in the sea, say researchers.

 

[Philbo King]

Kind of similar to the hilariously dark 'Cocaine Bear' movie (also based on a true story).

[Anderton]

Yeah, I figured the folks here would appreciate the dark humor of it all.

[ProfD]

Not too surprised considering the amount of pollution going into bodies of water. 

 

The animals are ingesting all types of crap including plastic.  It's bad.

 

Leave it up to humans and they can f8ck up a steel ball with a rubber hammer.😁😎

[ElmerJFudd]

Is it making it into sharks from human urine that makes it to the sea?  If that’s true then these sharks must also have a very positive attitude from all the depressants we are leaking.  🤓

[David Emm]

On 7/24/2024 at 4:29 PM, ElmerJFudd said:

Is it making it into sharks from human urine that makes it to the sea?  If that’s true then these sharks must also have a very positive attitude from all the depressants we are leaking.  🤓

 

Oh yeah, that's what we need, more motivated sharks.  I got to scuba dive in the ocean a few times. Its a major bladder test when you see a shark lazily circling the area. You realize that you're just a doggie treat in a wet suit. I'm glad I had the chance, but I wouldn't go for it today. Its full of toxic waste and besides, fish fornicate in it. 🤨

[Anderton]

On 7/24/2024 at 4:29 PM, ElmerJFudd said:

Is it making it into sharks from human urine that makes it to the sea?  If that’s true then these sharks must also have a very positive attitude from all the depressants we are leaking.

It's also from illegal laboratories. However...I remember reading about one city where there was a significant concentration of antidepressants in the water supply. Maybe that's more common than we realize, and is responsible for the drop in crime rates over the past several years...🤔

[Notes_Norton]

We have a lagoon here, called The Indian River (of citrus fruit fame) that used to be a fish factory. That was before Central AC, when people didn't want to live in Floriday.

 

Now not only is the fishing poor, the fish have been tested to all have round-up (glyphosate), herbicides, insecticides, and prescription drugs in them. Due to lawn fertilizers and big sugar farming, there are now dead zones in the lagoon due to the nitrogen causing algae blooms. 

 

Our Everglades have been invaded by Pythons. I think we need to spread a rumor that they have high levels of Viagra in the meat. That would get them hunted to extinction. 

We are not being very good stewards of our planet.

 

 

Insights and incites by Notes ♫

[David Emm]

Wow! Cultural trigger warning, heh!

 

There was a time when the SyFy network was peppered with super-lowbrow monster epics like "OctoGator vs. DinoPirahna" or whatever. It was clearly where budding CGI types went to polish their skills for bigger pro work. The effects were often grainy and more devoted to movement than skin detail, etc. The typical story depth was about 4 microns, so I quickly learned that they were for nodding off on the couch on a Saturday afternoon.

 

Right after "Jurassic Park" came out, I was reading an issue of Cinefex, a quality industry magazine with detailed features about How They Did It. The skills and problem-solving abilities were impressive. There was already a CD-ROM being offered with multiple dinos, skin textures and colors on tap for exactly that level of SyFy fun. It was somewhat like Band-In-A-Box for effects artists!   

 

Your mention of pythons rang that weirdo bell. Nature will probably start generating OctoGators and the like as part of trying to scratch the itching we're causing her. The Everglades are part of Earth's lungs. Spraying them with goo seems contraindicated. I predict that pythons the size of mini-buses will start appearing in Miami soon.           

 

I like having a Mac Mini and Focusrite interface that are smaller than the last models. I love flash drives that hold triple the data of my old HDs. I enjoy my Stuff™, but the less the planet has to be gouged to get the materials, the better I like it.