This is the tale of a gigantic lobster whose story I feel may provide hope to all those turkeys hoping to avoid the “honor” of becoming the centerpiece of a Thanksgiving dinner table.
Monstro is a 15-pound lobster caught 100 miles off the Massachusetts coast. He spent last month in the lobster tank at Angelica’s Restaurant in Bethlehem, where he made headlines for his massive size. According to experts, 15-pound lobsters are rare anywhere, but especially in the North Country. Monstro made his way to Angelica’s after the restaurant’s owner bought all 37-inches of him (his claws are 15-inches long) from a New Bedford fishing boat a few weeks ago. The men who caught Monstro estimate he is 50 years old.
For much of the month Monstro lounged in the restaurant’s tank with “Mr. Crabby,” the pet of the restaurant owner’s 7-year-old daughter, Angelica. Monstro and Mr. Crabby (a 2-pound lobster) spent their days feasting on minced crab and scallops. Half the customers who saw the massive lobster wanted to eat him; the other half felt sorry for him—including young Angelica who tried to convince her father that Monstro should be spared from the cooking pot.
After persistent lobbying from diners (and, of course, Angelica) the restaurant owner decided to raffle off Monstro, with the winner deciding whether to send him back to the ocean or off to a pot of boiling water. Raffle tickets were sold for a buck each until they reached Monstro’s retail price of $150.
According to news reports, last week, Angelica drew the winning ticket. The winner, a resident from the area, opted to send Monstro back to sea. (A stay of execution—how nice.) The elderly lobster was recently returned to the water, just off the southern tip of West Island, five miles from New Bedford, Massachusetts.
And now even more good news—according to the restaurant’s owner, the Monstro raffle was so successful that it was applied to another lobster, a 9-pounder who had joined Monstro in the tank a couple of weeks prior to his return to sea. That lobster was set free, too.
I bet there are a bunch of Thanksgiving turkeys that are wishing for the same fate.