Pharmaceutical pollution is rampant across the United States, which has created some of the fastest and most carefree salmon the world has ever seen. The fish, high on painkillers and anti-anxiety pills, show no hesitation when it comes to their journey from freshwater rivers to salty sea.
They are absolutely sending it!
Nearly 1,000 different kinds of drugs have been detected throughout the waterways of the earth. They got there through a few different channels: direct pollution from the companies that produce the drugs, from unused medications that get flushed down the toilet or dissolved down a drain, as well as from waste— both animal and human. Michael G. Bertram, a behavioral ecologist at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, called it a “cocktail of different pharmaceuticals.”
The animals that live in these drugged up waterways are exposed to all kinds of different medications by nature of the environment in which they live. Psychoactive drugs, like Xanax or Valium, have a direct impact on the behavior of fish.
A new study published in the journal Science found that “pharmaceutical pollution influences river-to-sea migration in Atlantic salmon.” Fish lose their anxiety when exposed to anti-anxiety drugs just like humans. Their stress response decreases just like ours.
Aquatic vertebrates such as fishes may be especially susceptible because their brains share many pathways of action with mammals. Using laboratory and field experiments, Brand et al. found that a common aquatic pollutant, the psychoactive benzodiazepine drug clobazam, is present in the brains of Atlantic salmon and influences their migration behavior, likely through reduced tendency to shoal.
— Sacha Vignieri, Ph.D
This study specifically focused on the smolt phase, when young fish migrate from their place of birth (freshwater) to the ocean. The research team exposed salmon smolts to an anti-anxiety medication or an opioid painkiller, or a mix of the two, and let them do their thing.
It is a treacherous journey. Not only must these salmon navigate unfamiliar waterways, they encounter hardship. Predators like Pike see the smolt phase as a prime opportunity to eat. Rapids cause danger. Dams and fish ladders are obstacles that get in the way.
The fish on pills have a better chance of reaching the ocean. It made the young salmon more likely to take risks. They were less afraid of predators and they were far less hesitant to navigate dams.
This could be a problem moving forward. Dr. Bertram worries about “unnatural selection.” Salmon could change the timing of their migration. The pharmaceutical pollution could cause them struggle to reproduce in an environment surrounded by predators. There is a higher risk of death when taking greater risks. Increased death could throw off an entire ecosystem.
In the meantime, these drugged out fish are swimming with unprecedented speed. The foot stays on the gas!
Content shared from brobible.com.