Louie the Lobster. Image: Victor Alcorn
A 132-year-old lobster, fondly named “Louie” was released on June 16 after staying in a restaurant for nearly 20 years, reports Fox 5 New York.
The 22-pounder Louie the Lobster was transferred to his new home near the Atlantic beach reef in celebration of National Lobster week, said Butch Yamali, owner of Peter’s Clam Bar in Hempstead, New York where Louie was “interred.”
Hempstead town officials even created a proclamation for the “official town pardon” for Louie the Lobster.
Image: Twitter/@HempsteadTown
The New York Post also reported that a customer had been offering Yamali $1000 to buy Louie for a Father’s Day dinner.
“He was trying to negotiate with me. He said, ‘I want to bring it home for a Father’s Day feast.’ I mean, that would’ve been some impressive feast. But I didn’t want to sell it. It’s like a pet now, I couldn’t sell it,” Yamali said.
Yamali purchased Peter’s Clam Bar fours years ago. At that time, Louie was already an inmate and missing a claw.
Experts believe that Louie will continue to survive despite a long time in captivity. The oldest lobster in captivity in New York is believed to be 140 years old, and Louie comes in at second place, the report stated.
“He’ll be just fine. There aren’t many predators who want to eat a big old lobster like that,” Bob Bayer, executive director of the Lobster Institute in Maine, told the Post. “Hopefully, he finds a mate — and lives happily ever after.” Alfred Bayle/JB