{"id":4385,"date":"2026-04-21T13:00:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T13:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/21\/salmon-on-cocaine-swim-twice-as-far\/"},"modified":"2026-04-21T13:00:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T13:00:11","slug":"salmon-on-cocaine-swim-twice-as-far","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/21\/salmon-on-cocaine-swim-twice-as-far\/","title":{"rendered":"Salmon on cocaine swim twice as far"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>2026-04-21 13:00:09<\/b><br \/>\n<BR>Salmon exposed to cocaine are swimming significantly farther than their drug-free counterparts, scientists have revealed.<BR><br \/>\nIn a new study, researchers found the illicit drug \u2013 increasingly detected in rivers and lakes \u2013 can dramatically alter how fish behave in the wild.<BR><br \/>\nThe experiment tracked 105 juvenile Atlantic salmon over eight weeks in Sweden\u2019s Lake Vattern.<BR><br \/>\nSome fish were exposed to cocaine, others to benzoylecgonine \u2013 the chemical cocaine breaks down into \u2013 while a control group remained drug-free.<BR><br \/>\nFish exposed to benzoylecgonine swam up to 1.9 times farther per week and travelled distances of up to 7.6 miles more than unaffected salmon.<BR><br \/>\nScientists say the changes became more pronounced over time, suggesting the drug is altering how fish interact with their environment.<BR><br \/>\nStudy co-author Dr Marcus Michelangeli of Griffith University\u2019s Australian Rivers Institute, said: &#8220;Where fish go determines what they eat, what eats them, and how populations are structured.<BR><br \/>\n&#8220;If pollution is changing these patterns, it has the potential to affect ecosystems in ways we are only beginning to understand.&#8221;<BR><br \/>\nThe study is the first to examine the effects of cocaine contamination on fish in natural conditions rather than in a laboratory.<BR><br \/>\nSurprisingly, the byproduct benzoylecgonine had an even stronger impact on movement than cocaine itself.<BR><br \/>\nResearchers say traces of the drug are entering waterways through human waste after consumption.<BR><br \/>\nDr Michelangeli added: &#8220;The idea of cocaine affecting fish might seem surprising, but the reality is wildlife is already being exposed to a wide range of human-derived drugs every day.&#8221;<BR><br \/>\nDespite the unusual findings, experts stressed there is no risk to people eating fish.<BR><br \/>\nThe research comes as England records some of the highest cocaine use levels globally, with wastewater analysis estimating 132,000kg consumed in a single year.<BR><br \/>\nScientists warn the hidden impact of drug pollution on wildlife may only just be surfacing.<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/\" target=\"_blank\"> Visit Bang Bizarre (main website) <\/a><br \/>\n<br \/><script src=\"https:\/\/geo.dailymotion.com\/player\/xtbac.js\" data-video=\"\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>2026-04-21 13:00:09 Salmon exposed to cocaine are swimming significantly farther than their drug-free counterparts, scientists have revealed. In a new study, researchers found the illicit drug \u2013 increasingly detected in&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4386,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4385","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bizarre"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4385","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4385"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4385\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4387,"href":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4385\/revisions\/4387"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}