The giant lobster that could be 100 years old!

London, July 21 : A giant lobster that has been caught off the British coast could be 100 years old, according to experts.

At 5.8kg (12.8lb), it was so heavy it broke the winch on the fishing boat of two fishermen, Jack Baker and Mark Tennyson.

The male lobster was caught while the men fished between Bigbury Bay and Hope Cove in Devon.

The huge creature is the largest of its kind to be caught in British waters in nearly 80 years.

"He just came up in the net. The net was so heavy it actually fell out of the winch," the Telegraph quoted Tennyson, as saying.

"I thought to myself, 'this is really something' and then there he was, poking his head out. He looked pretty angry when he came up in the net," he added.

Baker, 41, added: "I've been out with my father since I was about two years old, but he's definitely the biggest I've seen. He's been down there a lot longer than I've been around I think."

Douglas Herdson, of the National Marine Aquarium, said catching a specimen of this size was extremely rare.

He said it is difficult to pinpoint a lobster's age as they grow at different rates and shed their shells at varying frequencies.

However, he added: "To get this big he's got to be a real survivor. It is very rare to catch a lobster of this size.

"He's definitely over 20, probably over 30 and could be up to 100 years old."

The lobster will now live in a special tank at the National Marine Aquarium in Plymouth, Devon.

ANI