Lobsters

So, today someone put a leaflet through our door about a new restaurant on the island - specialising in fresh lobster. I know there are plenty of lobster restaurants already on the island, but I guess it just prompted me to write this. I hate people's attitude towards lobsters, as though they aren't even worth considering. If I talk to you about the welfare of a dog or a pig, no one will have a problem understand my concern. If I talk to you about a lobster, I wonder how many people will feel the same level of understanding.

Very few people realise that lobsters are fascinating little creatures. Here's a few facts about them, that you might not have known.

* Lobsters have complex nervous systems which allow them to feel pain.

* Lobsters have a fascinating ability to explore their surroundings, communicate and establish complex social relationships.

* Lobsters, like humans, have long childhoods, and an awkward adolescence. They also carry their young for nine months.

* When you or I are very seriously hurt, our body trys to numb the pain by shutting down. Lobsters don't have that ability and feel everything that is happening to them.

* Lobsters have highly developed senses of smell and taste - they are able to 'smell' chemicals in the water with their antennae, and taste with sensory hairs along their legs.

* If they can avoid capture, lobsters can live for over 100 years, and make long distance seasonal journeys that can cover over 100 miles a year!

* Lobsters that are liberated from a lobster pot, seem to 'learn' from the experinece, and are unlikely to be captured again.

* During killing, the lobsters are often plunged into boiling water, or are gradually heated. For some dishes they are cut up, or even grilled whilst still conscious. Lobster mousse is made by scrapping the flesh from the shell whilse the animal is still alive!

*Although lobsters don't 'scream' when boiled, as it was once believed, they do whip their bodies about furiously, and scrape the cooking pot with their claws, in a desperate attempt to escape. It can take anything from 15 seconds, to 7 minutes for them to die.

I could go on, but I think you get the point. Lobsters are fantastic little creatures - sociable and intelligent - and they suffer a horrible amount of pain and distress when they are killed ( obviously! ). To me, this is clearly unacceptable and barbaric. Why would anyone think that it was okay to make any creature suffer this way? Moral issues aside, lobster is not even good for you to eat! Fish and shellfish often accumulate extremely high levels of toxins in their flesh (as much as 9 million times that of the water in which they live) such as PCB’s, dioxins, mercury, lead, and arsenic, which can cause health problems ranging from kidney damage and impaired mental development to cancer, paralytic shellfish poisoning and even death.

Of course, as always, this is just a tiny, tiny drop in the huge ocean of animal cruelty isues. But I feel that the plight of lobsters is sometimes overlooked, and, although I doubt this post will change anyone's mind about eating them, I really hope it will at least make a couple of people think twice! And if anyone would like the code to put the little chap below on their blog, leave a comment with your email, and I'll send it to you.