The world can be a cruel place for baby lobsters . Kirsty Andrews gives them a helping hand
KIRSTYANDREWS
Release the lobsters !
The world can be a cruel place for baby lobsters . Kirsty Andrews gives them a helping hand
I
enjoyed rather an unusual dive this month . Courtesy of the National Lobster Hatchery and their Ambassador Ryan Hunnisett (‘ Scuba Ry ’), I helped to release 675 baby lobsters to take their chances in the deep blue sea , or at least the shallow waters of Porthoustock in Cornwall .
That number of little lobsters may sound a lot , but it ’ s a mere fraction of the 20,000 or so eggs that a female ‘ berried ’ lobster will produce in one go . Female lobsters carry these thousands of eggs for nine to 12 months before releasing them at night to play the lottery of life . I like to see a lobster on a dive , but I admit I ’ d never given much thought to the trials of its life or the chances of it reaching the grand old age of fully grown .
Of the 20,000 eggs from one breeding female , only one is likely to survive to adulthood , and the chances of reaching ripe old age , one in a million . Have you seen an ancient lobster , its claws crusty and whitened and so large it can barely move them ? I ’ ve been lucky enough to do so on a few occasions ( especially in Marine Reserves where they stand a better chance of avoiding a pot ), and wondered whether the crusty old crustacean was older than me - perhaps rather a lot older , and I wondered what sights it had seen . That ’ s nothing , though ; I understand that
22 the largest lobster specimen on record ( from 1931 in Cornwall ) measured 1.26m and weighed 9.3kg : its crushing claw alone weighed 1.2kg . What an animal .
Our slightly more petite batch had been lovingly reared at the Hatchery until they had reached three months old and were big enough to be released : thumbnailsized toddlers . They are transported to the release site in big white plastic disks where each lobster has its own mini-compartment - this is because they are very cannibalistic , so solo travel is necessary to avoid incidents .
We waded in from shore with our precious cargo tethered on an SMB line ( I ’ ll admit that Ryan did all the heavy lifting ) and once we attained a respectable depth we carefully opened the disks one by one and watched mayhem ensue . The baby lobsters were in trouble straight away : they escaped up from their tiny compartments and quickly headed downwards but in the meantime spider crabs and small fish circled the containers , ready for an easy meal . A bit of a shame from the lobsters ’ perspective but I suppose our efforts were not wasted : indeed , very little is wasted in the sea .
The hatchery babies , if they survive the gauntlet of initial release , disappear into the safety of the sandy seabed , and there they will stay for at least the next two years . They don ’ t reach sexual maturity until five to seven years old - even at that point two amorous lobsters have to be well-matched in size , or there ’ s danger of a mating opportunity turning into a cannibalistic feast .
I do hope that some of our 675 charges made it to safety and are happily ensconced in sandy gravel as I type . If you too are interested in giving lobsters a helping hand then opportunities abound ; Ryan organises regular lobster releases and is working on a speciality course on the subject with the backing of the Hatchery . Alternatively , if you want to organise something for your dive club , you can get in touch direct with the National Lobster Hatchery in Padstow , or indeed pop by for a visit to their centre , so that you too can thrill your friends with fun lobster facts . �