Operation Lobster Rescue…how too guide required

Leon The Lobster.

There's a few videos about it

There was a story a few years ago about a group of school age lads who pooled their money together to buy a lobster in that London then took it on a train to southend to release it. Seemed like a nice day out.

Would he survive if I just bunged him in a rock pool about 10 min from the shop,

I assume this is costal then?

In a rock pool it'll be attacked and scoffed by seagulls pdq unless it's a big deep pool.
If not by seagulls a rockpooler will have it in a bbq in minutes.

Wade out to waist deep and drop it in the sea. (ianalobster, in fact I'd be the aforementioned rookpooler)

We rescued a mussel. I don't know how successful it was though. I got a phone call from a friend saying that they had been to the seaside in a group and a child had brought home a clam.
When we went to collect the clam it was actually a mussel. We got some proper substitute sea water from a neighbour.
The next morning we went to Anglesey to sea kayak and released the mussel in the Menia Strait.
May have been futile but worth a try.
Good luck with lobster rescue.

Would he survive if I just bunged him in a rock pool about 10 min from the shop, and if so how the heck do I transport him? I’m assuming I can’t just chuck him in a box?

Well, he's got a much better chance of survival if you did that compared to being bunged in a pan of boiling water!

Yeah, just put him in a bag or a box and take him back, but rather than putting him in a rock pool where someone else can pick him up and transfer him to a pot, I'd let him go at low tide (when the tide is rising) somewhere he can scurry off into cover. Don't forget to cut off the rubber bands!!

Go for it!!

Won’t he die if he’s out the water for more than a few minutes?

No

It’s costal yes, although given the temps I may struggle to wade that far out! My plan was to walk into some rocks then drop him into the sea

How do you transport him however? Won’t he die if he’s out the water for more than a few minutes?

how the heck do I transport him? I’m assuming I can’t just chuck him in a box?

In a plastic box with some water in would be fine though no?

Just be careful of the claws. Lad I knew at school had a Saturday job at a fishmongers. One of them managed to loose its elastic band an bloody nearly had his thumb off.

How do you transport him however? Won’t he die if he’s out the water for more than a few minutes?

https://www.parl.ns.ca/lobster/faq.htm

I guess the further out you can get him, the better... any piers nearby? Boat tours?

So for the past few days I’ve walked past the local fish monger and they have what looks like a lobster in a tank

For that past few days I've walked past my greengrocers and they have what look like potatoes in a sack. I bought  them and released them back into the wild but the morning there were what I'm sure are the exact same potatoes back in the sack

Given its the fishmonger's job to sell stuff rather than keep them as pets... what makes you think its the same lobster you're seeing everyday? If you buy it and liberate it... won't there just be another one there in the morning?

Is it a native species?  Might not be the best idea if not?

Is it a native species?

Of potato?

Is it a native species? Might not be the best idea if not?

Plenty lobsters pots on the beaches round here

If you buy it and liberate it… won’t there just be another one there in the morning?

Well yeah, but saving one better than saving none

guess the further out you can get him, the better… any piers nearby? Boat tours?

Not in kdy. I could drop him in the local harbour though? Would that be a better idea? Certainly easier for me if he’ll survive the drop!

Transport it in a box or bag, don't put water in it tho. Drop it off a pier (preferably into water) and it'll be fine. You should see it flap it's tail to swim off.
(I used to catch them, so have met a few).

I could drop him in the local harbour though?

Not ideal. Lobster like rocky areas to hide in.... I doubt the harbour will be right. Go with your first plan, just put him were he's unlikely to be picked up by someone else.

Well yeah, but saving one better than saving none

Is it?  if your mission is to save lobsters buying a lobster which then encourages the fishmonger to get more lobsters from the market, and indirectly makes the price of lobster marginally higher and encourages fishermen to catch more it might be counter productive.  What would save the lobsters is if the fishmonger can't sell it, ends up taking it home for his tea and makes a loss on it, so is less likely to buy lobster next time, the market sees less demand, the fishermen get lower prices and so focus on other species or look to other ways to make a livelihood ....

Of course if your local market won't support the lobster supply then the other alternative is the fisherman still goes out, still catches lobster but now finds that the only market for his produce is hundreds of miles away and so food miles go up and the planet gets a little more destroyed.

Go down to Seafield (I think that is the place) - got a wee ruined tower on the coastal path...there are several rocks you can climb over and get to deeper water and slide the lobster into the water - unsure how you'd cut the elastic bands without getting caught, but I'm sure it won't be too difficult.
There are seals that sit on the further out rocks around there, but suspect the lobster would be fine once it is in the water and scurrying around the rocks.

So this has nothing to do with Jane Mansfield?

Hold it by the head with the claws pointing away from you. No matter how much it tries, it can't reach you to nip you. He might flap his tail a bit tho, so hold tight

How much is that lobster in the window?
The one with the wagg-er-ly tail.
How much is that lobster in the window?
I do hope that crustacean's for sale.

Go down to Seafield (I think that is the place)

Seafild?  Near portobello / leith? Behind the docks?  Its a martello tower and quite tricky to get to nowadays as forth ports have closed off access - youcan still get there with a shallow wade at low tide to get onto north leith sands

We were at the beach
Everybody had matching towels
Somebody went under a dock
And there they saw a rock
It wasn't a rock
It was a rock lobster
Etc...

Thanks for the earlobster 😊👍

Kirkcaldy tj. @dickbarton There is a pier at end of along costal path that may work, but unsure if that would be suitable at low tide which is 11 am tomorrow. I really need to figure out where to drop him tonight as I don’t want to be running round kitkcaldy with an angry lobster in my rucksack tomorrow morning if it’s not suitable! Not keen on scrambling over rocks to work out best place to drop it tonight either!!😳😂

Thick gloves will hopefully work!

I assume By default when i buy it I don’t need to specifically call out to the fish monger I don’t want them to kill it there and then!! Right?

I assume By default when i buy it I don’t need to specifically call out to the fish monger I don’t want them to kill it there and then!! Right?

You’d be a bit [s] gutted [/s] sated otherwise if he quickly dispatched it by default!! 🔪🦞☹️

FTFY

franksinatra
Full Member

There was a story a few years ago about a group of school age lads who pooled their money together to buy a lobster in that London then took it on a train to southend to release it. Seemed like a nice day out.

Sorry to kill the vibe but in the video of that I saw, it was a crab and they were running him under a tap so he wouldn't dry out. Crabs cannot tolerate salinity swings well and certainly not chlorinated freshwater probably also containing copper from the pipes.

I better ask for it live then!

I better bring along a box with me I suppose!😊

Ah, I'm not sure...I'm been there at high tide and with a changing tide...seemed to be plenty of pool potential hence me suggesting it...there is a pier thing at the Morrisons end of it, but I've never paid it attention so perhaps if using that, drop your new buddy off at high tide so it has plenty of chances to find a spot...and just hope it doesn't find the top of a rock pool and sits there as the tide goes out!!!

and just hope it doesn’t find the top of a rock pool and sits there as the tide goes out!!!

Exactly why he needs releasing at low tide - so he's covered most of the time. Release him at high tide and he might head for the nearest bit of cover which 1 hour later is no longer covered.

tpbiker,
Have you bothered to ask the lobster if it wants to be rescued, I doubt it, chances are it's a kamakazi lobster and that's all it wants in life is a pot of boiling water. Would you do the same for a fly in a shop window?

So this has nothing to do with Jane Mansfield?

Bravo Mr Buccaneer

APF 🙂

Am I the only one who popped in here expecting a question on how to get a stuck seatpost out of a classic 90s 853 steel hardtail?

Disappointing

Just to put this into clarity

You’re going to spend minimum of £35 on a lobster and throw it back in the sea ?
The real question you should be asking yourself is
Why do you feel the need to do this ? Give the money to a homeless person or be frivolous. Saving the lobster isn’t going to save you !

* it’ll only be replaced by another lobster!

^^ As above. You are actually stimulating the market for lobster.

Go on, eat the damn thing 😆

If it’s a lobster, it’ll have been caught in a pot tended to by a wee one man fishing launch and probably from a a small local harbour (if Fife). Not an indiscriminate factory trawler hoovering up the sea.

It’s precisely the sort of environmentally sustainable fishing method we should be championing.
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I’ll take care of him for you. I’m very experienced in serving, I mean saving them.

Pretty rocky out past Porty to the Pans. You can cycle on the old slippery concrete pipe box of death from Cockenzie power station that was.

Release theh beast and a pint in the Goth or Staggs afterwards.

Pretty rocky out past Porty to the Pans. You can cycle on the old slippery concrete pipe box of death from Cockenzie power station that was.

Release theh beast and a pint in the Goth or Staggs afterwards.

appear on Saving Lives at Sea a few months later, having been swept out into the stormy sea while inexplicably clutching a bicycle and holding an angry lobster attempting to snip bits off your face.

rather buy a humanely killed lobster

Is that even possible?

If it’s a lobster, it’ll have been caught in a pot tended to by a wee one man fishing launch and probably from a a small local harbour (if Fife). Not an indiscriminate factory trawler hoovering up the sea.

It’s precisely the sort of environmentally sustainable fishing method we should be championing.

So this has nothing to do with Jane Mansfield?

No-one had the upper hand.

I rather applaud the notion, effort and expense involved. It's ridiculous, but in a good way. I hope you manage it and the lobster lives to be 80 years old. Sometimes you just get a break and it sounds like this lobster is lucky to have attracted your attention.

appear on Saving Lives at Sea a few months later, having been swept out into the stormy sea while inexplicably clutching a bicycle and holding an angry lobster attempting to snip bits off your face.

This made me lol. 😆

slippery concrete pipe box of death

Is that an official Strava segment?

My memory is not great, but I was once told that Mick Hucknall from the pop band "Simply Red"... once purchased all the lobsters in a fancy Swiss restaurant, the whole tank of them, every last one of them, and in the style of "Schindler's List" he set them free.

Sounds like a really nice thing to do doesn't it.

However, Switzerland is not known for its coastline. They all died in the Lake Geneva.

So... don't do that with your lobster.

in the style of “Schindler’s List” he set them free.

he put them on a train?

For every reaction there is an equal and opposite reaction...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/892851.stm

For every reaction there is an equal and opposite reaction…

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/892851.stm/blockquote >

From that link:

A rare albino lobster that was stolen from an aquarium in Newquay has probably been eaten at a beach barbecue.
Albino lobsters are very rare because their lack of camouflage makes them an easy target for predators........ "I am really upset. He was a real star at the aquarium. He has been a great educational aid as we took him to schools and showed him to children," Mr Thomson said.
Albino lobsters do not usually survive for very long in the wild.

"Because of their colour they tend to get picked off by predators and attacked by other lobsters," Mr Thomson said.

Obviously albino lobsters don't survive long in captivity because their colouring makes them vulnerable to hungry predators.

 

This has thread of the week written all over it.
I’m completely gripped but not sure whose side I’m on? Rocky the rock lobster cos he rhymes with my username, or the plucky fife fisherman in his boat who is going to be out out of business as the market turns up 1000% and the factory fishers come in.
Also someone is going to have to explain the Jayne Mansfield thing to me…

Also someone is going to have to explain the Jayne Mansfield thing to me…

Derek and Clive = the worst job ever

Very NSFW IIRC

Aha.

Once you've done a 'dry run' as it were with this one, can I recommend you head to Scalpay (or similar).  Check out https://scalpayshellfish.co.uk/ , I think from memory they sell direct to the public on Wednesday evenings in the summer, so get yourself there for about 6pm, buy everything they've caught and tip it straight back into The Minch.

I think from memory they sell direct to the public on Wednesday evenings in the summer, so get yourself there for about 6pm, buy everything they’ve caught and tip it straight back into The Minch.

Video yourself doing this then go back and play them the video.

Do we have an update on Clampy's bid for freedom? Here's hoping that Clampy is on his/her way back to the sea without a Jayne Mansfield-esque diversion.

Plenty lobsters pots on the beaches round here

Hmm… I think I can guess a later episode of this story. For the lobster.

Saving the lobster isn’t going to save you !

Maybe. God is a Lobster.

Maybe. God is a Lobster

Not a DJ?

So any update OP? Or was there a claw-to-finger situation that's preventing you from typing anything?

You want to save a lobster that was foolish enough to be caught in the first place, then return it to breed more foolish lobsters. Fishing and consuming is increasing the intelligence of these crustaceans. You therefore must consume the said crustacean to avoid dumbing down the global population.

Wald would be proud of that logic.

You want to save a lobster that was foolish enough to be caught in the first place, then return it to breed more foolish lobsters. Fishing and consuming is increasing the intelligence of these crustaceans. You therefore must consume the said crustacean to avoid dumbing down the global population.

Wald would be proud of that logic.

He could be part of an undercover operation?

tip it straight back into The Minch.

Derek will just have to retrieve them again

I think you're confusing Minch and minge.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/sep/23/two-buddhists-fined-15000-releasing-non-native-crustaceans-sea-brighton

You need to be sure it's a native lobster Homarus gammarus and not Homarus americanus or you will be introducing a non native species to our waters. American lobsters are more aggressive than native lobsters and push them out of their territory.

So update…

I staked out the best place for release at low tide. Next day I went to pick him up and there were about 5 of them in the tank. No idea which one he was, they all look the same to me. So I’m going back over weekend and I’ll just take whichever they give me

That’s said, they are mean looking things aren’t they… give me the heebie jeebies..

No idea which one he was

I thought you said in your original post that he/she looked all shagged out and pining for the fjords or sumfink?

Does the new intake look equally shagged out?

Someone should put a stop to this sort of thing.

Edit: Perhaps the original one has been eaten and there are now 5 new ones?

That’s said, they are mean looking things aren’t they… give me the heebie jeebies..

tasty with garlic butter though...

not sure i could bring myself to cook a live one though - that said the same can be said about sheep etc.

Now as I was striding out in the countryside today I saw this field of sheep...

they all look the same to me...

Racist! 🤣

So I’m going back over weekend and I’ll just take whichever they give me

Poor Clampy. He was a shoe in for freedom,  now his chances have reduced to about 20%. Can you start a go-fund-me so we can liberate them all?

not sure i could bring myself to cook a live one though – that said the same can be said about sheep

FFS don't tell me that some people cook sheep live?

What is wrong with people?

Poor Clampy. He was a shoe in for freedom, now his chances have reduced to about 20%.

Or he's already gone in the pot.

You need to be sure it’s a native lobster Homarus gammarus and not Homarus americanus or you will be introducing a non native species to our waters. American lobsters are more aggressive than native lobsters and push them out of their territory.

I know this thread is a bit jokey, but you do need to be sure they're a native species...have you checked that they're locally caught?

#tpbiker Please don't do this. There is a possibility that live lobsters for sale are actually American lobsters - a different species to the lobsters in our seas.
American lobsters can have a parasite that is not found in our lobsters, and releasing an infected American lobsters could be devastating.
So if you care about wildlife,please don't release this lobsters into the sea.

What is there to stop the planktonic larvae of lobsters from the United States traveling over to the United Kingdom?

Presumably there are ocean currents which can facilitate this?

Genuine question btw.

What is there to stop the planktonic larvae of lobsters from the United States traveling over to the United Kingdom?

Blue passports.

What is there to stop the planktonic larvae of lobsters from the United States traveling over to the United Kingdom?

Genuine question btw.

They’re not truly planktonic. They are larger than most zooplankton and can control where they swim.

They are a third of an inch apparently, not enough to be carried by ocean currents?

Been following this with amused interest. More so now that we don't know if Clampy has been eaten or just got new mates 🤣

Obviously you just need to buy 5 to release now (assuming they're not American as above)! The fish monger will surely be delighted in the up turn in lobster trading despite these times if austerity, and have a whole lot more for you next time you pass.

Waiting with baited breath (or pot) 😁

I don't know what sparked the memory of this thread off in my mind,  but I see we never did reach the denouement of this epic tale of one MTBer and his quest for crustacean liberation.

@tpbiker did Clampy gain his freedom, or was this a project doomed to failure?

did Clampy gain his freedom, or was this a project doomed to failure

and did you ever get to ride that lovely 853 steel bike

To the OP:

Are you a vegetarian?