Long Island Restaurant Donates Giant Lobster to Local Aquarium

Is there such a thing as a lobster that's too big to eat? According to CBS New York, Long Island's Jordan Lobster Farms is currently babysitting a 23-pounder that is estimated to be an ancient 95 years old. While big lobsters are typically a fancy treat, customers at the restaurant are more interested in taking pictures with the huge crustacean than ordering it for dinner. Local patron Dennis Lynch told CBS, "It's more cool to watch it and look at it than eat it."

Stephen Jordan, owner of the wholesale business and restaurant, may be used to selling 10-pound specimens, but he says he hasn't seen a lobster this big in more than a decade. He explains how he got the oversized shellfish: "We received it yesterday morning from one of our fisherman, John Price, who's in the Bay of Fundy. He shipped it in, he didn't even tell us. He said 'look in the crate.' We opened it up and were like 'whoa!'"

A lobster's weight is what is used to estimate its age, and although one this size may seem rare, marine experts suggest that some in the deepest parts of the ocean can live to be 100 years old, reaching a similar size. That doesn't take away from the novelty of housing one of these huge sea creatures in a restaurant. Customers have become big fans and are happy to hear that instead of allowing it to end up in some fast-food lobster roll, Jordan plans to donate it to the Long Island Aquarium.