Diver Catches 12 Pound, 70-Year-Old Lobster

Photo and Video credit: Forrest Galante Facebook page

Talk about tall tails.

For Santa Barbara biologist Forrest Galante, the one that got away was 12-pound, 70-year-old lobster the size of a beagle.

Galante caught the giant crustacean while diving off the Southern California coast and later released the creature at a marine reserve. But first he got to know the beast, which he named Albert Girther.

“I stumbled upon something that very few people in this world will ever see, and that’s an almost 12-pound lobster,” Galante said in a video of the creature posted on his Facebook page. “It’s just a huge cockroach.”

Roughly four times the size of the average pacific lobster, Albert Girther is just too sensational to saute, Gallante concluded.

“This is just an unbelievable crustacean, and although he would probably have pounds and pounds of unbelievably scrumptious meat, I think, due to the fact that he’s a big breeder, we’re going to go ahead and put him back in the ocean.”

Ultimately, Gallante took the large lobster home for some photo ops before giving him a chance to recuperate at the TY Warner Sea Center and releasing him at a protected marine reserve, according to the New York Post.

Before parting, the two shared a hug.

“Anything that can bear hug a man like that is a pretty big lobster,” said Galante.

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