Man Buys 17-Pound Lobster From Restaurant, Then Releases It Into The Sea

A 17-pound lobster was saved from the cooking pot in Waterford, Connecticut, when local man Don MacKenzie bought him from The Dock Restaurant and released him back into the sea.

The lobster — nicknamed Lucky Larry — had become a local celebrity. Children visiting the restaurant over the weekend clamored to see and touch him, and manager Kristen Eighme earned scratches up her arms from handling him, which she cheerfully called her "battle wounds."

But when word got around that someone had reserved Larry for dinner, MacKenzie, who works at a local marina, decided the lobster should be saved. Judging by his size, MacKenzie estimated Larry to be between 80 and 100 years old.

"This lobster has seen World War I, World War II, seen the landing on the moon and the Red Sox win the World Series, he's made it this far in life," MacKenzie told The Day of New London. "He deserves to live."

"There was a price on the guy, but I won't say how much it was," he added. "Let's just say that it's the most expensive lobster I never ate."

Larry got a proper send-off. As MacKenzie boarded the boat with colleague Steve Wilson, a group of children chanted "Let Larry live, let Larry live!" and the Niantic River Bridge operator sounded the lift bridge's siren as the boat headed out to sea. The rubber bands on his claws were cut off — MacKenzie kept them as a memento — and Larry was released in Long Island Sound in a secret location where draggers cannot drop their nets.