Why are dolphins in Gulf of Mexico testing positive for fentanyl? What experts say

Lauren Liebhaber, The Charlotte Observer on Dec 5, 2024

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A study out of Texas has revealed the presence of fentanyl and other pharmaceuticals in dolphins in the Gulf of Mexico.

Researchers from Texas A&M — Corpus Christi sampled tissue from 89 free-swimming common bottlenose dolphins from three sites around the Gulf of Mexico and determined 30 had trace amounts of drugs in their bodies, according to a study published Nov. 29 in the peer-reviewed journal iScience.

These drugs included fentanyl, muscle relaxants and sedatives, according to the study.

Tissue samples were collected from dolphins in Redfish Bay, Texas; Upper Laguna Madre, Texas; and Mississippi Sound, Mississippi.

Of the 89 dolphins biopsied, 83 were alive when the samples were taken, and the remaining six were biopsied after death, researchers said.

Fentanyl was present in 18 of the living dolphins and all six of the dead animals, according to the study.

Researchers said they also tested historical samples, some dating back to 2013, which also showed the presence of pharmaceuticals, leading them to believe this is “a long-standing issue” in these environments.

Where are the pharmaceuticals coming from?

“For there to be drugs in a dolphin means that the drugs are either in the water, or they’re in the prey that they’re consuming,” researcher and Texas A&M University Ph.D. student Makayla Guinn told KIII.

Dolphins are often used to evaluate the health of an ecosystem, particularly when it comes to the presence of environmental contaminants.

Contaminants get stored in dolphins’ lipid-rich blubber, which can “be sampled relatively minimally invasively in live animals,” Dr. Dara Orbach, assistant professor of marine biology at Texas A&M — Corpus Christi and researcher, said in a news release.

According to the study, contaminants such as human pharmaceuticals can end up in aquatic environments due to insufficient wastewater treatment or “untreated discharge from pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities,” while veterinary pharmaceuticals may end up in the water through manure runoff.

“We did find one dead dolphin in Baffin Bay in South Texas within one year of the largest liquid fentanyl drug bust in U.S. history in the adjacent county,” Orbach said in the release.

What it may mean for humans

Researchers said that while the concentrations of drugs found in the dolphins were too low to quantify, the fact that it was even detectable reinforces the need for additional and large-scale assessment, particularly in “areas with dense human populations” and large fishing or aquaculture industries.

Dolphins eat fish and shrimp, and if pharmaceutials are present in their food source, it suggests potential health impacts for humans who consume the same foods, researchers said.

The study was complete in partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Precision Toxicological Consultancy, according to the news release.

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