00:00Our oceans are home to myriad creatures whose lives are in jeopardy due to climate change
00:07and pollution. However, now experts are beginning to find new kinds of chemicals in the bodies of
00:12marine animals, having found cocaine in sharks just off the coast of Brazil. Now experts say
00:17the dolphins in the Gulf of Mexico are testing positive for fentanyl. Fentanyl is a painkiller
00:22which is 100 times more powerful than morphine, and it has become a street drug during the ongoing
00:27opioid epidemic. And it is now becoming a wider issue with marine life, with fentanyl being
00:32discovered in the fatty tissues of 24 of the 89 dolphins recently tested. Dolphins don't drink
00:37seawater, so experts' best guess at the moment is that they are either absorbing the fentanyl through
00:42their skin or imbibing it via the fish they eat. Mammologist Dara Orbeck says the dolphins are often
00:48the canaries in the coal mine, with regards to ecosystem health in an oceanic area, meaning the
00:53problem could be much worse under the surface, telling Science Alert that the increasing number
00:57of micropollutants, including pharmaceuticals, is a quote, growing global concern, as their presence
01:02has been reported in freshwater ecosystems, rivers, and oceans worldwide.
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