Man tried to sell live shark on pavement outside store

A South Florida man had plans to turn a catch into cash, as he attempted to sell a live shark outside a Publix store on Thursday evening. Shoppers in Fort Lauderdale said the man hauled in the five-foot nurse shark, dropped it on the sidewalk and tried to sell it.

Patrick Lanier, the man who tried to sell the live shark, said he had reeled in the marine predator on the Intracoastal Waterway. "I felt like a leprechaun, like I struck gold," he said. Lanier said he was hoping to make about $100 from selling the shark, but no one seemed interested.
The shark remained on the pavement and up for sale as potential customers passed by. "Every so often I'd throw some water on it," said Lanier. "It was nice to see the people's faces light up, excited to get to touch it and really experience what it is," added Lanier. According to Publix officials, once managers figured out what Lanier was doing, they asked him to leave, and he did so politely.

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With no takers. Lanier said he released the shark back into the water on the Intracoastal, where it swam away. It it not legal in the state of Florida to sell a shark you have caught without a commercial license, something Lanier said he figured out while trying to find a buyer. He said he's learned his lesson, and it's unlikely he'll ever do it again.