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Huge N.B. lobster that sparked bidding war to be donated to marine centre |
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Written by THE CANADIAN PRESS
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Sunday, 20 July 2008 |
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SHEDIAC, N.B. - Big Dee-Dee the giant lobster isn't heading back to the ocean after all, but the 100-year-old creature isn't destined for a dining table either.
The lobster made international headlines after a cross-country bidding war broke out over the 10-kilogram crustacean, with some bidders angling for a once-in-a-lifetime dinner while others were hoping to set Big Dee-Dee free.
Now the owner of the New Brunswick fish store behind the auction says he's going to donate the lobster to a marine science centre to live out the rest of its days.
"I thought about it for quite a few hours but I thought it's best for business to do it like this ... no bitter feelings," said Denis Breau, the owner of the Shediac, N.B., store appropriately called Big Fish.
Breau agreed last Friday to accept a $1,000 bid from a Vancouver woman to release the lobster into the ocean, but said on Sunday he may simply donate the metre-long lobster at no cost to the aquarium at the Huntsman Marine Science Centre in St. Andrews, N.B.
"We can't set a lobster like that free just anywhere," Breau said, adding the lobster wouldn't survive a transition back into the ocean due to the change in temperature.
Big Dee-Dee has been kept in a large tank with just two other lobsters in Breau's store since July 10.
Breau said about half of the offers he got for the lobster were from people who wanted to see Big Dee-Dee put back in the ocean.
However, one Ontario group offered as much as $5,000 to get the lobster for a banquet, while another Ontario resident who also wanted to cook Big Dee-Dee put up $3,500.
But Breau said that after thinking it over for a few hours, he decided to let Laura-Leah Shaw, a Vancouver realtor, have the lobster for less.
Shaw said she's disappointed that Big Dee-Dee might not return to its natural habitat, but is hoping the push to set the lobster free will prevent fishermen from seeking older, bigger lobsters out.
"Now if there isn't a market for them, great," Shaw said. "They can be down on the ocean floor where they belong."
Shaw, a longtime vegetarian, said she's been involved with animal rights causes for 20 years. She was moved to try to free Big Dee-Dee after seeing a television news story about the lobster.
"It just seems wrong to take a majestic animal, put him in a pot of water, have him die a horrible death, just so someone can dine on him," Shaw said.
"I hope he lives out a long, long life."
Breau said he has never encountered animal rights activists before in Shediac, a town known as the lobster capital of the world.
"We sell a thousand pounds a day of lobster, but no one ever bugged us before to put lobster back in the water," Breau said.
-Written by Jennifer MacMillan
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 20 July 2008 )
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