23 lb Lobster

[murphdivers286]

Nice bug. I'm glad someone did not make him dinner.

 

[RonFrank]

Dang, I gotta start diving south of P-town in no-upper-limit waters! Look at the size of this sucker! Ya think it was pulled by a diver? I find it hard to believe something this big could make it into a pot.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/050301/480/paks10203011906

Nice that the guy is donating it to the zoo, but IMO put it back in the water.

That bug has no (or VERY few) natural preditors at this stage of life, and makes for a good DADDY Bug. I wish they would set it free.

As for the Donation, the owner was NOT shy in displaying EVERYTHING possible that had the name of his fish market while on the air.

23lbs Lobster for Dinner - $550 (reported)
Donating the Lobster - $250 (guess)
FREE National Advertising - Priceless

 

[PeaceDog]

Nice that the guy is donating it to the zoo, but IMO put it back in the water.

That bug has no (or VERY few) natural preditors at this stage of life, and makes for a good DADDY Bug. I wish they would set it free.

Couldn't agree more. You said it perfectly. Very glad he's not dinner, but there was an even better option.

I know there's a prevailing opinion amongst the more rabid lobster divers that taking the biggest bugs possible = a larger penis, but I wish people would realise how many more potential eggs the larger bugs could provide to future seasons of hunting.

 

[Danny D]

I remember last year at Back Beach I saw what looked to be an 11 lb female and it scared the hell outta me when I saw it under the rock.....I could not amagine my own reaction if I saw that sucker under a rock ....its the size of a small dog for crying out loud....I would probely just spit out my regulator and swim away crying like the little girl I am.....lol

 

[matt_unique]

I remember last year at Back Beach I saw what looked to be an 11 lb female and it scared the hell outta me when I saw it under the rock.....I could not amagine my own reaction if I saw that sucker under a rock ....its the size of a small dog for crying out loud....I would probely just spit out my regulator and swim away crying like the little girl I am.....lol

This is one of those "had to see it to believe it" stories but a buddy and I saw the largest lobster either of us has ever seen/read about under the Poling during a night dive two years ago. It was larger than the one in the recent article.

I looked under with my light and spotted this giant lobster and it just did not register. I looked away, blinked my eyes a few times, thinking maybe I was hallucinating or narced or something, then I looked back in with my light. I yelled in my regulator something like "holy *****!". I grabbed my buddy and brought him to the spot. I signalled big lobster and directed my light underneath. When his light hit this thing he literally "jumped" if you can imagine that underwater. It surprised the crap out of him.

When we surfaced he said he thought I was showing him a dead human body it was so large. I am not kidding....not exaggerating....the carapace on this thing was gigantic and with the large arms it looked like a human reaching out with their arms. The claws were absolutely enormous.

I went back the next night with a camera and went straight to the same spot but of course it was gone. I have seen many lobsters underwater and have held bugs that were much larger than legal. The size where you had to use 2 hands to pick it up like a football....this one was far and away larger than anything like that. This was just a monster. I jokingly refer to it as the "Legend of the Massachusetts Lobzilla".

It is amazing you can do a site 100 times and still see things you have never seen before.

--Matt

 

[scubastew]

http://www.boston.com/news/odd/articles/2005/03/02/no_butter_for_bubba_the_22_pound_lobster/

not sure if anyone posted this link (boston globe)

funny quote in the article though:

"People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) sent Wholey a letter asking him to work with the group to release Bubba back in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Maine.

Another group calling itself People for Eating Tasty Animals (PETA) reportedly offered Wholey a hefty price for the lobster. At Tuesday's price of $14.98 a pound, Bubba would retail for about $350."

 

[MSilvia]

Here's contact info for anyone else who might like to give the fish market their thoughts on the zoo plan:

contact@wholey.com

Phone
(412) 391-3737
Fax
(412) 391-7247

Mail
Robert Wholey & Co.
c/o Wholey's Market
1501 Penn Ave.
Pittsburgh, PA 15222

 

[yak]

...

Another group calling itself People for Eating Tasty Animals (PETA)... /QUOTE]

Isn't that NELD?

 

[yak]

Here's contact info for anyone else who might like to give the fish market their thoughts on the zoo plan:

contact@wholey.com

Phone
(412) 391-3737
Fax
(412) 391-7247

Mail
Robert Wholey & Co.
c/o Wholey's Market
1501 Penn Ave.
Pittsburgh, PA 15222

Matt,

Too late for the fish market approach. The article quoted

"On Tuesday, Wholey gave the lobster to the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium, which will send him to an aquarium at a Ripley's Believe It or Not museum."

Looks like it's bound to be a circus side-show. We could instead direct our comments to the zoo. Here's a list of people we can address/cc on emails:

http://www.pittsburghzoo.com/contactUs.asp

http://www.lobsterinstitute.org/whatis/Contactsheet/Contactsheet.html

http://www.ripleys.com/broadband/contact.html

http://www.ripleysaquarium.com/contact.asp

http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dmf/contactinformation/con_index.htm

 

[yak]

I started following up on Matt's prodding, and as I poking around to get email addresses from local Pittsburg newsmedia to cc my letter to, I found the following news:

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/trib/pmupdate/s_309301.html