Giant lobster finds happy home at Blue Planet Aquarium

Jan 13 2011 Chester Chronicle

A GIANT lobster is enjoying a new lease of life the Blue Planet Aquarium after the fisherman who caught him decided he was just too impressive to be eaten.

The massive crustacean was discovered in the nets of a Cornish fisherman last month.

Measuring a metre in length and tipping the scales at just over 3.5kg it is thought he could be up to 60 years old.

Blue Planet Aquarium’s Tom Cornwell said: “Apparently he was accidentally caught off the harbour wall in Penzance in a herring net. By all accounts the fisherman was so impressed by how big he was that he couldn’t bring himself to sell him to a fishmonger’s and instead offered him to the aquarium.

“He’s a magnificent specimen and it looks like he recently moulted as his shell is in excellent condition. Hopefully he can now look forward to a long and happy retirement here at the aquarium, safe in the knowledge that he has had a very lucky escape.”

Lobsters are long-lived with some individuals reputedly reaching ages in excess of 100 years.

The heaviest recorded crustacean is an Atlantic lobster nicknamed Mike who was caught in 1934 and tipped the scales at an awesome 19kg.