Lucky the Lobster finds a home
Blair Calkins and his family were fishing for prawns when they hauled in a lobster laden with eggs. In some places, this would be a perfectly normal event, except they were in British Columbia, where there shouldn't be any lobster....
Blair Calkins and his family were fishing for prawns when they hauled in a lobster laden with eggs. In some places, this would be a perfectly normal event, except they were in British Columbia, where there shouldn't be any lobster.
Calkins was shocked when his boys pulled a lobster up in their haul. "The first thing we thought is that somebody's playing a joke on us," Calkins told As It Happens guest host Peter Armstrong.
But once he got a good look at it and saw that the underside was full of eggs, he realized that it was no joke. "We're dumbfounded that it's surviving and thriving."
Lucky's Eggs - Courtesy of Blair Calkins
Calkins was then faced with a dilemma - he didn't know if he should put it back in the water, given that lobster aren't native to the Pacific Ocean. He also knew he didn't want to kill the special animal.
Calkins called the Department of Fisheries and Oceans who told him not to return it to the ocean. So, he kept "Lucky" alive in a tank as a pet while he figured out the best course of action for her.
Since our interview aired, Calkins gave us an update. He tells us "Lucky" has found a new home. A professor at the University of British Columbia that teaches biodiversity will use "Lucky" as an educational tool for his students.