A sink full of lobsterim

By: Jason

A primary research goal of mine here in Israel is to work with lobsters.  The Mediterranean slipper lobster however, is not like the lobsters you might be used to seeing in New England – that is readily visible (underwater), plentiful, and cheap.  As a result, I have had to rely on many people to help me navigate through the fishmonger stalls in Akko (Acre) to negotiate and, in most cases, purchase lobsters.  “Do you have any lobsterim (lobsters, that is) today?” in Hebrew or better yet Arabic (the preferred way to ask).  Oh yeah, I have also actually seen clawed lobsters at the fish market, flown in from Canada or Maine – unbelievable how those guys get around! 

Slipper lobster: Notice the beautiful purple highlights.
Once I got this lobster into the lab, I glued on the tag
(so I can tell who is who for experiments).

Over the past month or so, I have made myself familiar to a couple of the guys in the market, and they now recognize me.  This has been part of my usual routine, scampering around the Akko fish market, walking around the port, etc.  However this week, one of my colleagues at the University managed to hook me up with the Kingpin of the Akko fishing community (his name I will keep anonymous for obvious reasons).  I met this character on a stairwell, on a sweltering afternoon and, having made introductions (in very, very broken English and Arabic) he took me up the stairs, down a seedy looking hallway and into a dark room. 

There in the kitchenette sink were 5 nice-looking lobsters.  After little verbal communication and invisible writing of the price on the wall, we had made a deal (and excellent one!).  I had made a new friend and am excited to see this guy again.    

It’s still never a sure bet going to Akko for lobsters for one reason or another which brings me to the other way to get lobsters – go dive for them myself.

In fact, this is another part of my research: to capture and tag lobsters in a Marine Reserve, Achziv Marine Park located north of Haifa and on the border with the friendly neighbors to the north, Lebanon.  I have been getting the help of the Park Ranger there and am making some good progress.  

Diving for lobsters

As I alluded to earlier, these lobsters are hard to find.  They are cryptic and extremely camouflaged.  They tend to take up residence under large rocky ledges or inside small caves or holes, often hanging upside down.  Not that easy to find and catch when you have a limited source of air and need to hang almost upside down to find them.  Then there is their strength -- because these animals have no claws or spines, they rely on their brute force to cling to rocks or other hard objects.  They can use their powerful legs to open up bivalves (we have to shuck them with heavy, sharp knives) and the force at which they do so is tremendous.  Let’s just say they are like the true 4x4s of the Sea with the impenetrability of an army tank. 

Capturing these lobsters is a multi-step process: find ledges, caves, or holes in the sea bed, use a good flashlight to scan around, and hope to find one or two.  Other critters such as stingrays and even an occasional moray eel have  been known to co-exist with these lobsters as well.

Just another challenging but exciting adventure!