It has been a relatively exciting time as of late for lobsters. Not only was a rare blue lobster caught in the ocean recently, but it seems that a very old lobster, estimated to be up to 110 years of age, was recently saved from becoming someone’s meal at a restaurant.
Image Credit: ABC/Joe Melluso/Tin Fish
The age was estimated by the lobster’s massive size and weight. It was reported that the lobster, which was given the nickname Larry, weighed just about 15 pounds (14.98).
Researchers were a little more skeptical at the age estimate, however. Despite the fact that 110 years is probably a good estimate based off of the size and weight of the specimen, realistically we’re looking at what could be a 60-80-year-old lobster with a growth spurt.
It’s difficult to really place an age on a lobster when you pluck it out of the ocean. There’s just no absolute way to confirm just how long they’ve been walking the sea floor.
The owner of the Tin Fish restaurant, Joe Melluso, said that the lobster was more than three times larger than what the restaurant usually gets for “jumbo” lobsters.
As you can imagine, someone was really excited to cook and eat the lobster. It turns out that Larry was all scheduled to be cooked and eaten after a customer put a payment down on him, but after activists heard of the lobster’s existence, they suggested Melluso spare the lobster and reimburse the customer.
After taking photos, the activists would gain possession of the lobster and attempt to transport it from Florida to a special aquarium in Maine where the lobster could be studied. Larry was carefully packed into a temperature-controlled container full of salt water, seaweed, and other oceanic goodies, and the shipping process would then begin.
Unfortunately, when Larry made it to his destination in Maine, researchers found the specimen unresponsive. It turns out that at some point during the shipping process, Larry had passed away.
“It’s very disappointing,” Melluso said. “It definitely makes for an ugly story for something that had a lot of good energy and good intention behind it.”
As you can imagine, even more animal rights activists were angry that Larry wasn’t released into the ocean right on the spot, as the lobster’s death may have been avoided if it weren’t for all of the handling from one state to another.
Source: Portland Press Herald
