The lobsterman was hauling up his pots off George’s Bank when, to his astonishment, he discovered one of them contained a blue lobster. He knew the odds of catching a blue were one in a million. To his dismay, this lobster was not a keeper. It was a juvenile and the length of its carapace was barely two inches. It was well under the legal size.
What a shame, thought the lobsterman. Had it been an adult, some city slicker couple would have paid an exorbitant price to own it as a novelty. They’d keep it in their seawater aquarium and show it off to all their high society friends at parties. More’n likely, after a few months they would have tired of its beauty. Then they would board their fancy yacht with their animal-rights friends and release it back into the ocean to great fanfare.
The man studied the lobster for a moment. Then he took out his smartphone and snapped pictures of the trophy before bending over the side and gently releasing it back into the ocean depths.
Next time, he thought.
As the juvenile lobster settled within a few feet of the bottom, it was spotted by a hungry dogfish. The fish didn’t care that its next meal was under 3.25 inches. Or that it was blue.
About the author
Phillip Temples is still trying to make sense of it all. Writing and photography seem to help. He can be followed at https://temples.com or @PhilTemples on Twitter.
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