SARASOTA, Fla., June 3 (UPI) -- Scientists in Florida are studying traces of pharmaceutical drugs found recently in the blood of bull sharks, The Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported.
Prescription anti-depressants such as Prozac and Zoloft, cholesterol-reducing drugs like Lipitor, and synthetic estrogen are reportedly the most commonly found drugs in bull sharks in Florida's Caloosahatchee River. Scientists believe the drugs were flushed down toilets and eventually ended up in the bloodstreams of sharks, the newspaper said.
Scientists from Sarasota's Mote Marine Laboratory have been collecting blood from young bull sharks and plant to tag up to 100 sharks for continual study.
Marine scientists are worried that the drugs could interfere with the sharks' ability to reproduce. The bull shark, which spends most of its first year in rivers before venturing into deep sea, has been on a sharp population decline since the 1970s, the Herald-Tribune said.
