He left the retail chain in the early 1930s and devoted his life to big game hunting, fishing and marine research.
[3] He returned to Wedgeport in September 1935 and caught 21 tuna in the course of 11 days, varying in size from 86 to 450 pounds.
[4] He founded the American Museum of Natural History's Lerner Marine Laboratory on Bimini in The Bahamas.
[7] He received an honorary Doctor of Science degree from the University of Miami, and was awarded the first Gold Medal Angler's Award by the International Oceanographic Foundation for being the "sport fisherman who has accomplished the most for marine science.
[8] Lerner is commemorated in the scientific name of a subspecies of lizard, Anolis smaragdinus lerneri,[7] which is endemic to The Bahamas.