Great Britain: Diver catches giant crab (OF COURSE there are pictures :-))

The Crawley Observer (UK) / Various ^ | July 2, 2008

[Stoat]

Diver catches giant crab

 

A giant crab with a shell 12in wide has been caught by an Aylesbury diver off the UK coast.

The crustacean, weighing 17lb and with a claw span of 9in, was found by diver Paul Worsley during a recent diving trip in Lyme Regis, Dorset.

Douglas Lanfear, who runs the dive boat Blue Turtle, said he was amazed at the size of the crab.

He said: "It was truly a monster. It was the biggest crab I have ever seen in all my years and there were fishermen who have been working here for 30 years and they said they hadn't seen anything like it.

"The claws were absolutely huge - as big as my hands - and if you got your finger caught, it would take it off."

Mr Lanfear said the crab was caught on the wreck site of the warship the Empress of India, which was sunk off Portland as a gunnery target in 1913.

He said: "It was caught 13 miles off shore, I don't know why it was so big but probably just because of age. It had managed to escape the fishermen somehow and reach this great size - it was big enough to feed 10 people."

In May, a 36in long lobster with claws 8in long and 4in wide was caught by another diver from Mr Lanfear's boat.

[Stoat]

Pictured Monster crab with claws the size of a man's hand captured off the British coast Mail Online

 

Claws for concern: Paul Worsley gets to grips with the giant crab he caught in Lyme Regis harbour

Moby click: The giant crab can break a man's fingers with its claws

 

Cracking: The crab's claws are the size of a man's hands

For his efforts, he can congratulate himself on capturing what experts believe is the biggest edible crab ever landed.

(edit)

The previous largest edible crab on record is in the collection of the Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle in Paris. Its carapace was 11in wide.

(edit)

Unfortunately, Mr Worsley's crab will not be displayed in any museum. A friend has eaten it.
 

Giant crab landed in British waters - Telegraph

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Paul Worsley proudly shows off his record catch

*******************************************************************************

More Giant Crab News.....

Stalin's last army Hordes of gigantic crabs on their way to invade Europe -

Norway fears giant crab invasion

Russian 'Red Army' of Monster Crabs Heads West

[Stoat]

[livius]

Yipes! That’s one brave crabber! Hope it tasted good.

[Stoat]

Yipes! That’s one brave crabber!

Indeed! From the linked Telegraph article:

• He spotted the crustacean on a boiler on the wreck of the Empress of India, which lies around 160 feet beneath the surface and ten miles off the coast. But the crab was so large that he could barely carry it to the surface.

  It has a claw span of nine inches - big enough to break a man's finger. Mr Worsley added: "It put up quite a fight but I managed to get it in to a bag and attached it to a buoy to lift it to the surface.

I've done some scuba diving in my day, but I'm not so sure that if I were to be diving a wreck and saw something like this crawling around that my first reaction would be: "Yes! I want to take that with me! Come 'ere big guy!"

 

 Hope it tasted good.

For his family and several neighbors perhaps!

Also from the Telegraph:

"It's going to provide a lot of meat - enough to feed at least 10 people."

[Brainhose]

I caught crabs in England once. They were very tiny though, these buggers would really make you itch.

[SkyPilot]

The thread just cries out for this picture:

[riverrunner]

Pass the butter please.:)

[Safetgiver]

And I thought I had a bad case of crabs, once.

[bleach]

I feel a Helen Thomas appearance coming.

[JRios1968]

[arderkrag]

Hello, breakfast.

[SunkenCiv]

Hey, if people don't like the tuna, they can change the crustacean.

MANGLED GENITALS PING

Thanks Stoat.

[Slings and Arrows]

In other news, "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" is missing a host.

[Slings and Arrows]

Paris Hilton wants that thing back.

[Grizzled Bear]

You should have stayed away from Madonna.

[MaryFromMichigan]

Must be FreakinNews won't allow hotlinking.
I was curious, so hope you don't mind if I post it.

[Daffynition]

Yep.

[Crawdad]

I got a bunch of those on Spring Break in Panama City in 1977.

[Stoat]

So sorry!  I searched FIVE TIMES before I posted and NOTHING relevant came up.  The search functions used to work so much better around here.

"sigh"

[Stoat]

Hello, breakfast.

 

Breakfast of Crab
1648; Oil on canvas; The Hermitage at St. Petersburg

Heda, Willem Claesz. (1593/94-1680/82). Dutch still-life painter, active in Haarlem. He and Pieter Claesz. are the most important representatives of ontbijt (breakfast piece) painting in the Netherlands. His overall grey-green or brownish tonalities are very similar to those of Claesz., but Heda's work was usually more highly finished and his taste was more aristocratic. He showed a preference for ham, mince-meat pie, and oysters, and after 1629 never included a herring in his pictures. His son Gerrit (d. 1702) was his most important pupil.

WebMuseum Heda, Willem Claesz.

[Stoat]

Thank you very much for pinging your list  :-)

[Stoat]

Thanks Stoat.

You're quite welcome  :-)

I hope you won't be offended if I don't join your new pinglist?  Threads of that nature would be rather upsetting to be sent on a regular basis.....

((((shudder))))

[Daffynition]

LOL ... no apology necessary ... it's a great story and should be enjoyed far and wide ... "Gaetice depressus!!!"

[Stoat]

Thank you....your perpetual courtesy, grace and congeniality sets a benchmark for all :-)

[Daffynition]

Blushing ...

[Jotmo]

I use to do some diving in Puget Sound. We would take a bag with us to gather crabs we found, which we had a license for, of course.

One critter got a hold of one careless guys finger.

In case you're wondering, you can hear someone scream under water.

[Stoat]

awww...is that a giant blue-crab and cookie dinner for the stoat?
Why thank you so very much!
And cooked by such a gorgeous lady no less....
“sigh”
what more could I possibly ask for?
Thank you :-)

[Stoat]

Oh lawdy, that sounds awful!
I’ve done just a little diving in Puget Sound (Tacoma Narrows, Edmonds Underwater Park, San Juan Islands) but never fishing or crabbing...I’d think that an unexpected pinch like that could conceivably end up being lethal if the pinch-ee were to spit out his regulator and y’all were deep enough...not something to do for fun!

[bannie]

We're still cryin' for that picture.

[bannie]

HOLY CRABS, BATMAN!

[SunkenCiv]

The truth is, the logo is the product of the fertile (for now) mind of martin_fierro, and I wouldn’t swear to having concockted the idea for such a list (may have been m’s suggestion) in the first place — strictly as a joke. But you’d be surprised at the number of topics which qualify around here...

[SunkenCiv]

Oh wow...

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1969981/posts?page=42#42

[SkyPilot]

You can see it in Post #16.