Plenty more fish in the sea! Lucky lobster is saved from the pot for SECOND time after being caught twice in two years by the same fishing boat
Many more fish in the sea! Lucky lobster is rescued from the jar for the SECOND time after being caught by the same fishing boat twice in two years
- A four-foot-long lobster was caught twice by the same fishing boat in just two years
- The colossal crustacean is recognizable because part of its claw is missing
A lucky lobster has been rescued from the jar for the second time after being caught by the same fishing boat twice in two years.
The huge crustacean, believed to be around 80 years old, was first caught in 2021 off the coast of South Wales.
The unnamed fisherman who caught the lobster was fishing for conger eels on a shipwreck when the four-foot-long lobster took off on its squid bait.
However, the fisherman decided that due to the age and size of the sea creature, it was only fair to return it to the sea.
The same lobster has now been caught again in the same area after sport fisherman Joshua Hearn retrieved the crustacean last week.
Fisherman Joshua Hearn (pictured) caught the four-foot-long lobster last week, marking the second time the 80-year-old crustacean has been caught in just two years
It was recognized that the lobster had been caught earlier because part of the claw was missing
He hauled it in and Boat Skipper Carl Bradley was stunned when he immediately recognized it as the one from two years ago.
Mr. Bradley was able to identify him with certainty, as he was missing the tip of one of his cutting claws, which had broken off, probably during a fight with another lobster.
Fisherman Mr. Hearn had his picture taken with the huge crustacean, taking care to keep his hands away from the huge, bone-crushing pincers.
He then tossed the lobster, estimated to weigh about 10 lbs (4.5 kg), back into the water safe and sound.
Mr Hearn, the skipper of the Swansea-based charter boat Blue Thunder, said: ‘Both times the lobster was caught in the same spot.
“Joshua was fishing for Conger with rod and line. At first he didn’t know what he had caught. As he reeled it in, he thought it might be a spider crab. I said, “that’s not a crab, that’s a lobster.”
“I helped him get it into the landing net and I immediately saw it was the same lobster. The tip of the top cutting claw was missing, as was the one from two years ago.
Boat skipper Carl Bradley (pictured) recognized the huge lobster by its distinctive claw
The fishermen decided that because of its size and age, it was only fair to return the lobster to the sea
‘The animal has lived on the seabed for about 80 years, it is only right that it should be allowed to spend its remaining days there.
‘You can’t kill a creature like that.
“We’re not saying exactly where it is because we don’t want another fisherman to come along and catch it and decide to kill it.
“Plus, at that age and size, the lobster meat will be very leathery and not tasty to eat.
“I thought it was about 50 years old, but others think it must be at least 80 years old.
“However old he is, it must be a lucky lobster.”
The largest lobster ever caught in British waters was a 20lb specimen caught off Fowey in Cornwall in 1931.