Monday, July 27, 2009

Going Lobstering

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After the bad luck on the whale boat the day before, we hesitantly boarded the lobster boat. Although, we figured lobsters should be pretty easy to find.


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Because they have a teaching license they are able to keep various catches to share with passengers, but all catches are eventually released.


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The captain snagged a buoy.


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Once the captain could, he would grab hold of the rope attached to the buoy. . .


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. . .and, place the rope on the pulley to help pull up the trap.


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Each trap was like a little mystery, waiting to see what might be inside. There were lobsters, but also, crabs and starfish would come along.


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I think I see lobsters!


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I don’t think he likes it much. While the lobster wiggles, the measuring thing (technical term) is placed in the eye groove and run to the divot where the tail starts.


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Each lobster would be measured. Only lobsters falling in a certain range are allowed to be kept.


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Each tail is checked for eggs. If there are eggs attached to the tail, the lobster is a female and thrown back.


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The gulls anxiously waited for the small lobsters to be thrown back.


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And they fought for lunch.


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Crabs would get thrown back too, but not until we got a lesson.


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Our guide told us interesting tidbits about lobsters and even passed one around for us to hold. Yep, I held a lobster. . .and a starfish.


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The captain has been getting gulls to eat from his hand. But not on this day, the gulls preferred to eat what was tossed.


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23 comments:

  1. Awesome and fantastic shots and post!
    Poste a little late on Macro.
    Have a great week.
    Regina

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  2. So much about throwing the Lobsters back, because they are too small to be eaten and should grow a bit more... *snicker*
    Cool shots and what an amazing tour :D!

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  3. This should have been a wonderful experience holding a live lobster in your hands. WOW.

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  4. Hmmmm....I wonder where I can get me one of those snazzy lobster hats. :)

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  5. Wow, what a fun experience! It must have been neat to see what all would come up in the trap. Those starfish are huge too!

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  6. I love lobster but already cut and prepared and anonymous on my plate, your pictures are soooo real ! (yikes)
    but I love the seagulls they remind me of my holidays at the English coast.

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  7. Would you believe I've never eaten a lobster before? I wouldn't mind trying some though. I can't believe how incredible you are with that camera. I can only wish to get that good. Your seagull pics never fail to amaze me with their clarity and extraordinary poses. Wow...

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  8. What fun! Glad you had better luck with the lobsters than with the whales ;-)

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  9. I would have loved to be there! Awesome!

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  10. I just want one of those cool lobster hats...I would wear that to work! LOVE IT!

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  11. The hat is funny and I like that you did get the photo of the bird with the lobster in the mouth, MB

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  12. We didn't have luck in the whale boat either. We only saw one harbor seal. :0( This looked like fun!

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  13. I keep looking to the clear beautiful water. I went out boating this weekend as well but the water was choppy and storms were brewing ...then tumultuous rains...loved it though. Your experience looks much more peaceful ...lovely pictures. ~Mary

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  14. I always wanted to be in a profession where you could wear blue gloves like that.

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  15. Looks like a lot of fun. I have been deep sea fishing in Florida but didn't have great luck.

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  16. Bet this was alot of fun. I need to look into this one, if we ever get back to Maine. I don't like Lobster, I know I am in the minority, but it would be fun to go fishing for them. Lobster was so cheap there to eat, everybody told us we were crazy for not taking advantage of the price. But when you don't like, you don't like, no matter the price.

    Leedra’s Photos For Fun

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  17. What a fun trip and Fantastic photos!!

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  18. the starfish are the coolest.
    you get the most amazing shots.

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  19. I use to love going Crabbing with my Mom. Never have been on a Boat. Looks like a lot of Fun.

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  20. The water down here is too warm for lobsters. We have a pretty decent Blue Crab population here, but the shellfish of choice are mainly shrimp, oysters, clams and scallops -- probably in that order. Now fish we have all you can stand. I'd love to have taken this tour, but to have to toss 'em all back without eating any? Heartbreaking.

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  21. Looks like a great trip. Have always wanted to bring up some lobsters but we only have crabs and prawns on the west coast.

    Would love to get back to Maine, it has been too long.

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