MIAMI – The body of a shark was left lying in the middle of a downtown Miami street after two men tried to sell it to several fish markets.
The men apparently carried the five or six-foot-long fish around on the city's Metromover downtown train, prompting calls to police.
News footage Tuesday night showed the dead animal in the street with police officers and cruisers nearby. Two stations reported that a pair of men had tried to sell the animal to at least three fish markets for around $10.
Rob Orta, an employee at Casablanca Fish Market, told television station WSVN that the men offered his business the shark.
"But we don't buy sharks off the street," Orta told the station.
Wildlife officials later determined the animal was a nurse shark. The case could result in misdemeanor charges of improper killing and disposal of an animal and selling a shark without a license.
One resident of the area where the shark was dumped said he didn't know what was going on at first.
"It was a relief that it was a shark," said Keith Smith. "When I first saw it, I thought it was a body because of all the shootings that have been going on."
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