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Buddhist Monks Save 600 Pounds Of Lobsters And Release Them Back Into The Ocean

By Jacintha Webster
Published on: 15:31 PST, Jul 14, 2016

More than 600 pounds of lucky lobsters have avoided being boiled alive and eaten after the compassionate monks on Prince Edward Island, Canada, bought them to release them back into the ocean, according to Eco Watch.

The Buddhist monks purchased the hundreds of lobsters, fit into eight massive crates, for the sole intention of setting them free. The crustaceans were bought from various places around Eastern Canada’s Prince Edward Island before the monks held a 20-minute ceremony with a prayer and chant and released them back into the ocean. Before putting them back in the ocean, the monks carefully removed the bands around each lobsters claw.

A spokesperson, Venerable Dan, for the Great Enlightenment Buddhist Institute Society in Little Sands said that the monks live with compassion for all creatures, not just lobsters, and that they do not try to push their beliefs on anyone; they just wish to share their view of valuing all life, according to CBC.

“We respect everyone’s dietary choice, so we’re not doing this to convert everybody to be vegetarians or vegans,” Dan said.

“This whole purpose for us is to cultivate this compassion toward others. It doesn’t have to be lobsters, it can be worms, flies, any animals, drive slower so we don’t run over little critters on the street.”

Dan said that this act was not intended as an attack on people’s dietary choices, but rather was about compassion and raising awareness about other beings and the importance of all life, even when the animal is not cute and fluffy.

As we have seen in recent months with the death of Harambe the gorilla and Cecil the lion, which both caused a global stir, people rally together in outrage at the death of one animal but not the death of many animals. Even Inky the octopus was praised for his great escape in New Zealand, yet 150 billion animals are slaughtered every year for food and there is rarely a rally or online outrage for all these lives lost.

Unfortunately, lobsters, like cows, chickens, pigs, and lambs, are considered animals that are to be eaten, not animals to be loved. This is in spite of the fact that crustaceans can feel pain and remember pain. The monks said they just want to bring awareness to this fact and show that small changes every day can make a big positive change overall.

“If your loved ones were in this situation, what would they like you to do?” Venerable Dan said. “To give them a helping hand and put them back to where they feel comfortable and we believe if everybody’s able to do that, it will become a better place, a more harmonic place.”

Dan said that the monks boarded a boat on Saturday and, with the help of a local fisherman, released the hundreds of lobsters back into the ocean off of the coast of Wood Islands.

“Hopefully, we can find a spot where there are no cages waiting for them,” said Dan before the release.

A local fisherman helped the monks choose a spot in the sea where no cages were currently laid, to give the lobsters the best chance of survival. Dan said that the local fisherman and islanders were all supportive of the monks saving the lobsters.

The monks did not disclose how much money they spent on saving the hundreds of lobsters, but Grind TV made a rough estimate that $6,000 were spent saving the crustaceans. This is based on the assumption that the price of lobsters is $10 per pound.

Regardless of the cost, the monks have spread compassion and selflessness.

For more facts about marine life or reasons to leave fish and meat off your plates, check out Fish Feel.

[Photo by Sumith Nunkham/Shutterstock]

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