Cocaine in seawater could alter a fish’s decision to fight or take flight, marine biologist warns

A marine biologist has revealed raw sewage being dumped in the English Channel has left every marine species in the water “full of cocaine, amphetamines and MDMA”.

Traces of the drug routinely make their way into Britain’s waters after passing through users’ bodies, and could be altering the natural behaviour of some fish including whether they fight or take flight from danger.

Professor Alex Ford, working alongside Dr Tom Miller of Brunel University, has been investigating the impact of one huge sewage pipe in Hampshire’s Langstone Harbour which carries the waste of some 400,000 Portsmouth residents.