People Are Awesome: 80-Year-Old Lobster Rescued from a Boiling Connecticut Pot

A massive 17-pound, 80-year-old lobster that could have ended up on a lunch plate recently got released back into Long Island Sound thanks to the crustacean compassion of Don MacKenzie of Niantic, Connecticut.

"This lobster has seen World War I, World War II, seen the landing on the moon and the Red Sox win the World Series, he's made it this far in life," MacKenzie told the local paper. "He deserves to live."

Local kids who had been flocking to the restaurant's tank to check out the impressive creature had named him "Larry." Word soon circulated that his number was up and had been ordered for a feast. MacKenzie swooped in, outbid the eater, and set Larry free while those local kids chanted "Let Larry Live!" The lobster was deposited in an area of the Long Island Sound where draggers can't drop their nets where he'll likely be able to live out the rest of his bottom feeding days in peace.

Photo courtesy of The Dock Restaurant