Let’s talk lobsters

Lobsters are weird.

In 1800s they were dirt-cheap because they were so copious, so were routinely fed to prisoners, apprentices, enslaved people, and children. Nowadays they are seen as delicacies for the more fortunate. This rags to riches story is why we at BoS LOVE the lobster and why we are proud to wear the lobster emblem on our USA tours.

Fun fact: A lobster’s brain is located in its throat, its nervous system in its abdomen, its teeth in its stomach and its kidneys in its head. It also hears using its legs and tastes with its feet.

There’s a few things to think about when we look at lobsters.

Some have shells so hard tools have been broken trying to crack them open; and some have shells so soft you can bend them in your fingers. Yes, soft shells have a lower meat yield, but some people prefer the taste of softshell lobster over the hardshell counterpart.

Lobsters also have molt their shell. When the old exoskeleton becomes too tight for lobsters, they split the shell in half where the main body meets tail and then crawl out. Their exit strategy is not without risk – around 10% of all crustaceans die during a molting. The reasons for death include:

• exhaustion trying to break out of a shell that’s grown too hard for them to break
• unable to protect themselves from predators as they wait for their new shell to harden

However, every time a lobster molts, it offers it the chance to ‘regenerate’ its body – this means, if it’s lost legs or claws in the past – it can regrow them!

If a lobster wants to grow it has to take risks BUT that can pay off; the largest lobster on record weighed in at 44 pounds and was 42 inches long. Scientists believe it was at least 100 years old—twice the lifespan of the average lobster.

I hope you are seeing some parallels between what you are reading and the story every business goes through.

To be part in BoS USA 2022 in Boston, MA on 26-28 September and find out more about lobsters and see this year’s BoS Lobster, register now to take part.