2 Giant Lobsters Narrowly Avoid Getting in Hot Water

Shirley, a 25-pound male lobster with claws as big as baseball mitts, returned to the ocean today, saved from a dinner plate by animal rights activists, a seafood vendor and state officials.

Lifting the giant crustacean by its claws and tail, seafood dealers from Portland and Philadelphia gently swung him over the side of a boat into 22-feet-deep water near fog-shrouded Portland Head Light in this Portland suburb.

Bob, a companion lobster weighing in at 19 3/4 pounds, was dropped into the water moments later.

Dana Neuts, retail manager of Harbor Fish Market in Portland, said he wasn’t used to the idea of returning potential seafood to the sea, but in the case of Shirley and Bob he had no complaints.

“It feels great. It really does,” Neuts said. “I like the idea of the whole thing.”

“These are well-traveled lobsters,” said Kevin Hill, the Philadelphia seafood vendor who accompanied Shirley and Bob on their flight to Portland on Monday. “We shouldn’t be catching lobsters this size. Maine is the only state that’s doing anything to protect them, and that’s why we’re here.”

Maine law protects lobsters with body shells longer than five inches, covering crustaceans heavier than 4 to 5 pounds.

Shirley, whose age has been estimated at 40 to 125 years old, and his smaller companion were rescued from a Philadelphia man who wanted to serve them for Easter dinner.

The lobsters had been trucked from Long Island, N.Y., to Philadelphia, where they were sold to a customer for $287.

Animal rights activists took up the lobsters’ cause when they heard that Art Miller, a retired carpenter, planned to use them for a feast.