Frippery

The Gloucester Lobster Plot Thickens

Photo: Hannah Whitaker / New York Magazine

Remember the troop of Buddhists who ceremoniously released 534 locked-down lobsters into the Gloucester shore last week? And remember how an intrepid group of lobstermen allegedly recaptured them? Well, as one might suspect … the “recapture” was just a big joke!

The Globe had initially reported that “lobstermen from the fishing vessel Degelyse said they had traveled to the site of the ceremony, laid their traps, and hauled up exactly 534 lobsters, according to a local blog, Goodmorninggloucester.org.”

But Good Morning Gloucester’s blogger, Joe Ciaramitaro, says he was only kidding. Now the Globe reports that he “admitted … that he knew a group of lobstermen were only joking around about trying to catch lobsters that were tossed back in the ocean late last week by some Buddhists seeking good karma.” The Globe quotes him as saying that “I was obviously wrong, and people did not understand with the outlandishness of it all that it was a joke.”

We assumed it was a joke in the first place! Those karmically-blessed Buddhist lobsters are probably sunning themselves someplace gorgeous right now.

Blogger Says Lobster Tale Was a Joke [Globe]

Released Lobsters Retaken, Group Says [Globe]

Earlier: Buddhist Crustacean Liberation Makes Lobstermen See Red

The Gloucester Lobster Plot Thickens