Louie the Lobster
Louie’s life began over 130 years ago when he was born in the Atlantic Ocean. To put that into perspective, he would have been born around 1885 — when Grover Cleveland was President! That means he may have seen two world wars, three different centuries, and multiple technological revolutions since then! What an incredible life this lobster must have lived so far. Louie spent much of his life living among other lobsters until he was caught off Long Island by fishermen and sold to a seafood restaurant in New York City. For 20 years, Louie lived inside a glass tank in a New York seafood restaurant called “Peter’s Clam Bar”, where he became part of the family for many staff members and customers alike.
Freedom for Louie the Lobster
When Butch Yamali bought the clam bar, he also became quite fond of Louie, who had already been living in the restaurant for over 15 years at the time. Louie was a large lobster, weighing in at 22 pounds, so not many people tried to tackle the task of cooking him (he couldn’t fit inside most cooking pots!). However, one day a customer offered Butch $1,000 for Louie but instead of taking the money, Butch decided it was finally time for him to be free again. After all these years, he knew it was only fair that Louie should live out his remaining days as nature intended — not cooped up in a tank in some restaurant. So, in June 2017 — National Lobster Month — they loaded up a boat off Long Beach Island and gave Louie one last ride before setting him free into the Atlantic Ocean. While most Americans celebrate National Lobster Month by eating lobster, Peter’s Clam Bar celebrated by releasing one of its largest lobsters back into the wild. The Town Supervisor of Hempstead, Anthony J. Santino, attended the ceremony and pardoned Louie during his speech. The fate of our beloved friend and accidental celebrity remains unknown; however, we can only hope that he is living out his days peacefully out on open waters after such an incredible journey! We may never know what happened to him, but his story serves as an inspiration for us all to make decisions based on kindness rather than monetary gain and that sometimes even animals deserve second chances at life!
