Giant Lobster Saved From Boiling Pot

A giant lobster is probably thankful for his claws after being saved from being boiled for dinner. As one of the biggest and oldest lobsters that anyone in Britain has caught, he will get to spend the rest of his life in the Blue Reef Aquarium in Portsmouth, Hampshire.

Lindsay Holloway, who works for the southern England aquarium, believes that the gigantic crustacean is approximately 50 years old, judging only from his size. The lobster is approximately 3 feet (one meter) long and weighs nearly 9 pounds (4 kilograms).

The giant lobster was rescued and placed into the care of the Blue Reef Aquarium

An angler named Marcus Hyde was fishing for sole in the Bracklesham Bay, which is located off the coast of West Sussex, and caught the lobster in water of almost 46 feet (14 meters). Hyde apparently thought that the lobster was too old to be eaten but was still quite special, and he decided that it would be best to donate it to the Blue Reef Aquarium.

Many who have seen him say the same thing – that Hyde’s lobster is a fantastic example of the specimen, and it is quite amazing that he has reached such an age. Experts working at the aquarium also say that a lobster of that age would rarely be that large, usually being about half the size of the one that Hyde donated. Another similar-sized lobster was donated after being caught in 2006 to an aquarium in Hastings.

The lobster is one of the oldest inhabitants of our planet; there are remains that are dated back to more than 100 million years. Though there are some that have lived for more than 80 years, many do not have such long lives.

Though impressive, this lobster still does not weigh up to the heaviest recorded crustacean. Mike, an Atlantic lobster, was caught in Nova Scotia in 1934 and weighed in at an incredible 19 kilograms (42 pounds).