20-pound Lobster Sprung From City Restaurant

[THUNDER HANDS]

Source: Newsday

A new lease on life -- at 140?

That's what a Manhattan lobster got Friday, when the 20-pound crustacean named George was released from a swanky Park Avenue restaurant's tank. City Crab and Seafood agreed to a request from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals to let the lobster return to the Atlantic Ocean.

"We applaud the folks at City Crab and Seafood for their compassionate decision to allow this noble old-timer to live out his days in freedom and peace," said PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk.

Some scientists estimate lobsters can live to be more than 100 years old. PETA and the restaurant gauged George's age at about 140, using a rule of thumb based on the creature's weight. Caught off Newfoundland, Canada, George lived in the tank for about 10 days. He was to be released Saturday near Kennebunkport, Maine, in an area where lobster trapping is forbidden.


Read more: http://www.newsday.com/news/local/ny-nylob0111,0,6263621.story

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point of reference... this is what a 22-pound lobster looks like...

[panader0]

1. I had the crabs once.

[blendermax]

2. they are beautiful animals

[Botany]

3. I could really love george

[blendermax]

5. lol

Only thing we fat Americans ever think about

[AlCzervik]

14. nice post Paula Deen.

:o

[Lorien]

21. I'm thinking that a 140 year old lobster

wouldn't be terribly tasty. x(

[Sultana]

36. Melted butter?

Excuse me while I...
:puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke:


:P

[Veritas_et_Aequitas]

4. We need more of his kind on the frontlines of the war on giant squids.

[flvegan]

6. Thank you, PETA.

I don't get to say that very often.

And thank you City Crab and Seafood.

[Donnachaidh]

7. George was probably tough as nails

Good thing they decided to cut him some slack.

[eShirl]

9. oops, posted before I saw yours

[eShirl]

8. probably too tough anyway at that advanced age

[Warpy]

12. He would have been a pain in the ass to cook properly

unless he'd been disassembled first.

He's better off siring baby lobsters off Kennebunkport.

[cali]

10. aww, I can't believe I'm feeling sentimental over george the lobster

have fun back in the briny blue, george.

[eShirl]

11. He was to be released Saturday near Kennebunkport, Maine

nah, probably just coincidence...

[Chulanowa]

13. That's one hell of a sea kitten n/t

[YOY]

15. Run free little sea roach.

n.t.

[wryter2000]

18. LOL

During Colonial times, they were so plentiful people used them as fertilizer. Indentured servants complained if they were fed lobster more than twice a week.

We once got some 2 pounders (maybe a little bigger). The meat was tough, and it took us 3 days to eat it all in various recipes. We were all heartily sick of the flavor when we finally finished.

[YOY]

25. Bottom feeders. As my friend from Maine put it. "Lil fuckers will eat anything. Wanna eat that?"

He was not a fan despite being in the family of fishermen...

[KittyWampus]

16. We served 1000's of lobster here at our family restaurant. Anything that big would NOT be good eats

You want a 1.5 pound lobster in season (or they are all shell or tough as heck).

[wryter2000]

17. That thing's too tough to eat, anyway

It belongs in the wild

[Libertas1776]

19. 140?...

Damn, he evaded fisherman for that long.

[blendermax]

20. I bet he was caught a few times

but tossed back in the ocean because he too tough for eating

[NashVegas]

22. He Was Probably Better Off in the Tank

Considering pollution.

Damn, I want those claws!

[Tab]

23. THAT is a big-assed lobster

I've seen large lobsters before, but not like that. Holy schmokey.

[Elidor]

24. Some quiet little lobster community somewhere is about to get a new sheriff

None of the other lobsters wants to mess with George. "Yeah, I broke outta the joint. Humans? Phffft. They're soft."

In a match between George and that cook, my money's on George.

[Occulus]

32. On a serious note, what kind of damage *could* those claws do?

I'm thinking breaking an arm, easily. Maybe worse.

Fingers?

Toothpicks.

[Veruca Salt]

26. Awww! That is wonderful that they actually released him!

Things like this make me warm and fuzzy inside! :)

But I will admit.... George does look tasty. :9

[madamesilverspurs]

31. For some reason

nothing named "George" will look tasty to me for quite some time. Maybe I need a new mantra.

Clooney. Clooney. Clooney..........that might do it, but it will take a very long time I'm afraid.

[Milspec]

27. I prefer crab, a bit of history

Long ago, lobsters were so plentiful that Native Americans used them to fertilize their fields and to bait their hooks for fishing. In colonial times, lobsters were considered "poverty food." They were harvested from tidal pools and served to children, to prisoners, and to indentured servants, who exchanged their passage to America for seven years of service to their sponsors. In Massachusetts, some of the servants finally rebelled. They had it put into their contracts that they would not be forced to eat lobster more than three times a week.

http://octopus.gma.org/lobsters/allaboutlobsters/lobsterhistory.html

[Omaha Steve]

28. Thank you City Crab and Seafood (& PETA)

The web site is under construction: http://www.citycrabnyc.com/

Does anyone remember Larry the lobster from SNL in the 70's?

[Maine-i-acs]

29. Hope they remember to take the rubber bands off its claws.

Once in a while these guys forget...

[Enrique]

30. a lot of ageism on this thread

;-)

[ecstatic]

33. eww... Didn't know lobsters could live that long

Makes me wonder the age of the lobsters sold at walmart and other bargain markets? What a turn off!

[chatnoir]

34. Aww, what a beautiful thing to do

Thank you City Crab and Seafood and PETA!

Safe travels home George!

[Sultana]

35. mm, yum

:D

[petronius]

37. That's nice of them. 140 is a bit outside the envelope, but out here

the older lobsters are the more prolific breeders. Divers are encouraged to leave the really big bulls alone, to keep up the population.

I wonder a bit if there are any important survival skills that he may have forgotten, but I suspect being a lobster in the wild is pretty easy: eat, fuck, hide in a hole, repeat...