Vancouver Residents Save Century-Old Lobster from the Pot

Lobsters – those poor little ‘sea bugs’ that so many people just can’t get enough of.  I remember cringing in horror as a child when my seafood-loving New England family would throw the poor things into the pots, knowing they were still alive and leaving the room so I didn’t have to hear that dreaded ‘screaming’ sound they make when the steam starts to escape their shells. I always wanted to save them – but it’s tough to do when you’re a kid surrounded by adults salivating over the idea of eating the rubbery creatures. So, I’m happy to hear that some good Samaritans out in Vancouver were able to save a 22-lb, 100-year-old lobster from a similar fate.

From Green Daily:

Big Dee-Dee was caught off New Brunswick, Canada last week, and had been arousing interest from both conservationists and connisseurs of cooked crusteaceans. The owner of the the aptly named Big Fish shop where Dee-Dee was temporarily living had received more than 100 offers to buy the old boy, including one who would have paid a cool 5 grand to fly him to Ontario to be guest of honour at a company banquet.

However, all’s well that ends well and next week a marine biologist will pack Dee-Dee up in a truck and take him down to the ocean, where he will be returned to the wet and wild from whence he came. After which he will likely get wander into another trap and end up back at the Big Fish, because lobsters aren’t really all that smart. But it’s still a happy ending, for now.

The Green Daily provided an update on July 21st, saying that the owner of Big Fish decided to donate Dee-Dee to an aquarium, fearing that a return to the cold water would kill him.

Hurray for Dee-Dee! Anything that’s managed to live that long should be left to live its life in peace.

Link [Green Daily]
Photo credit: Flickr user Gill Rickson

OMFG Cute Overload: Penguin’s Wet Suit Lets Him Swim Again

Stories like this send me nostalgically sliding back into my girlhood days of having cheesy ‘Kountry Kats’ calendars on my lavender bedroom walls. The little animals are just so cute I want to hug them and pet them OMG SQUEEE!

Biologists at the California Academy of Sciences have created a wetsuit for Pierre, an aging African penguin who was going bald.

From newsvine:

Unlike marine mammals, which have a layer of blubber to keep them warm, penguins rely on their waterproof feathers. Without them, Pierre was unwilling to plunge into the academy’s penguin tank and ended up shivering on the sidelines while his 19 peers played in the water.

“He was cold; he would shake,” said Pam Schaller, a senior aquatic biologist at the academy.

The little suit fastens at the back with Velcro and has small openings for Pierre’s flippers. In the six weeks since he was outfitted with the suit, Pierre has grown back some of his feathers, gained weight and is acting like his old self again. He’ll be ‘weaned off’ the suit as his feathers grow back.

What is it about animals in clothing? I can’t stand it. This reminds me of when my college roommate used to put frilly little shirts on her Siamese cat, and the cat would just stiffen and fall over like the indignity of being treated like a doll was just too much for her. But we all would laugh hysterically because damn, it was just so cute.

Link [newsvine]