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#109702 July 13th, 2005 at 07:52 PM
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Hi Dianna ~
wavey

I'm sorry I didn't have a chance to answer your question sooner about "Red Water" but I've been busy. I did want to take a second and answer you today though because you were given wrong information in a different post.

"Red Water" or "Red Tide" is NOT pollution. It is, in fact, a misnomoer for a naturally occuring event that has nothing to do with tides and is often not even red!

Scientists perfer the phrase HAB meaning Harmful Algal Blooms but popular social phrases die hard at times, don't they?

What HAB has to do with is microscopic single cell plants that live in the sea. Most species of algae or phytoplankton are NOT harmful to man or beast. They are, in fact, at the very base of the food chain without which higher life wouldn't exist. These species have lived in the oceans for millions of years and again, are NOT pollution.

Occasionally, factors come together to cause one species or another to grow very fast or "bloom" into a dense, visible to the naked eye patch on the surface of the water. When this happens with a species that contains a reddish pigment, it can make the water seem red.

Scientists have been tracking the various forms of HAB around the globe for a long time and noticing how they are affected by things such as hurricanes rather than any man made phenomena or human ocean usage. A large bloom was carried into New England by the Gulf Stream and it is NOT an indication that our northern waters are so polluted now we're growing stuff to kill folks!

Of all the blooms that occur, only a small number are harmful to higher life forms such as zooplankton, shellfish, fish, birds, marine animals or humans who eat those things. The only harmful blooms are the ones which produce neurotoxins.

If anyone else is interested, you can visit the HAB web page and see a map depicting the various types of blooms and where they occur around the US.

Merme

#109703 July 13th, 2005 at 09:22 PM
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Thank you for your detailed answer, Merme. I will pass the information on to Jim as he was curious as well.

He said something about not being able to eat the shellfish when the red water is there. Is there truth to that?

Dianna

#109704 July 13th, 2005 at 10:01 PM
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Hi again, Dianna ~

Yes, there ARE certain species of phyloplankton that will produce a neurotoxin that isn't good for anything that might eat it, such as shellfish. So when an HAB is in place affecting shellfish, fish and birds, the marine life people issue a warning which also causes much woe to the fishing industry on so many levels.

Mostly, though, HAB's are just ugly. It wouldn't hurt you to swim or boat through an area like that or anything, you just wouldn't want to is all.

Years ago people did believe the myth that this was pollution or man made impact events but science has disproved that. I always think it is NICE when we are told we have one less thing to worry about!

Merme

#109705 July 13th, 2005 at 10:06 PM
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Thanks, once again, Merme. Just wanted to be sure that the facts were all straight now. Who knows? It might come up in a trivia game sometime! laugh

Dianna

#109706 July 13th, 2005 at 10:46 PM
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We're having red tide pretty bad here. So ya, all our lobster and shell fish have to be imported from Canada >.< Can you believe they wanted 55 dollars for a lobster o.O??

~Phoebe

#109707 July 13th, 2005 at 10:53 PM
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Phoebe, I know...

Usually I can pick up a lobster at the local pound for $2.50. Not this season!

frown

Merme

#109708 July 13th, 2005 at 11:18 PM
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We took my aunt out to Red Lobster for her birthday on Sunday. She had a lobster tail, snow crab legs, shrimp, and something else for $20. I tried a bite of Jim's lobster and it made me sick! Guess I will be a cheap dinner partner for going out to eat at the lobster places. laugh

Phoebe, I cannot imagine paying $55 for a lobster. They aren't worth 2 cents to me! laugh

Merme, is a lobster pound like a dog pound there? I am not quite sure I understand where you are getting yours. grinnnn

Dianna

#109709 July 13th, 2005 at 11:30 PM
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laugh

Oh Dianna, you tickle me so!

A lobster "pound" is a place where lobster live until purchased. They swim around in big holding tanks doing lobster activities until somebody selects them for the cooking pot.

There is a pound two blocks from my house, so I've gotten really spoiled by stopping by to slap my two bucks on the counter and run away with lobster for supper, snagging some fresh produce along the way...

There are two types of lobsters...hard shell, which are very big and also usually quite expensive, and soft shell, which are smaller and much more affordable.

And by the way, you can't compare what Red Lobster serves to the Real Thing, so reserve your judgement about what lobster really tastes like until you've really had a chance to taste it!

REAL lobster is sweet, delicious, and a bit rich to the taste.

thumbup

Merme

#109710 July 14th, 2005 at 12:56 AM
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I went to school in California years ago. ONe weekend we went with one of my friends to her home in San Francisco. We went out on fisherman's wharf and the native took us to this little shack out there and I had lobster for the very first time. Oh my....it was wonderful!!!! She warned us about eating at the restaurants (too spendy) and I couldn't tell you where this little shack was...the wharf was pretty big to this land lubber. We got a plate with our chosen lobster freshly cooked, a little cup of melted butter, some cole slaw and something to drink. It was wonderful...sweet, rich and I couldn't begin to eat the whole thing. Frozen lobster tails (like at Red Lobster) just isn't the same thing at all. Every once in awhile one of the local grocery stores has a lobster tank with fresh lobster in it.....but it doesn't cost no $2 I will tell you!!!

#109711 July 14th, 2005 at 02:05 AM
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Now you're talking, Fernie! thumbup THAT'S the way to eat lobster...out of the water, into the pot, onto your plate and pretty quick to the mouth! A good pound keeps boiling pots at the ready and will do 'em right up for you while you wait. I love standing in the open air, waiting.

Yummy!

Merme

#109712 July 14th, 2005 at 03:45 AM
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Well, the lobster that I tasted was sweet, rich, and made me gag. (Insert puking graemlin here!) laugh It seemed like the more I chewed, the bigger that piece got. I didn't think I would ever get it out of my mouth!

Jim ate lobster for the first time while he was in Maine, and loved it. He says I am a cheap date now if we go out for sea food anymore! grinnnn Good thing that I had the sense to order fried flounder and shrimp for myself. I tried it, didn't like it, and don't think I ever will....fresh or not.

I always had my children eat at least one bite of food that they had never tried before when I served something new. I didn't want any finicky eaters. They weren't allowed to say they didn't like something if they never tried it. I use the same principle on myself. Lobster is something I wish I had not put in my mouth! laugh

Merme, good to know that a lobster pound is something like an aquarium for fish food. By the way, what kind of activities do lobsters enjoy doing? perpl

Dianna

#109713 July 14th, 2005 at 05:34 AM
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Oh for activities, lobsters are kind of strange critters. They enjoy walking in a long single-file line along the ocean floor. It is an unusual sight, guaranteed!

So they just go walking into the traps, one right after another, all tidy.

But they also like to buddy up and get all cozy in close quarters. I've always suspected that when they do that they are planning some sort of rebellion on how to escape the pot!

You know those pull-behind-you toys on wheels very small children enjoy? Usually a bubble with balls inside that pop as you go along?

Well, when Maxi was a baby, I bought him a wooden lobster that clicked it's claws when you pulled it along behind you. What ELSE would a Maine baby want to play with?! He loved that thing.

Then one day when he was about 4, he announced that he was taking his "pet" for a walk and set off down the street pulling the lobster behind him. I decided right then he needed a living pet and that was the introduction of Golden Bear the Hamster to our home. We got it a tiny hamster harness so he could go on walks with Maxi, too.

Ah, the oddities of child-rearing!

Merme

#109714 July 14th, 2005 at 07:56 PM
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You are such a special mother, Merme! I would have loved to seen Maxi leading a hamster on a harness! grinnnn I bet that was toooo cute. I bet the lobster-clicking-claws toy was a sight, too!

I never knew lobsters liked to play "follow the leader". There would be a mutiny if the followers knew they were following to their doom.

Dianna

#109715 July 15th, 2005 at 12:02 AM
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diana, the kids' Godmother always said it takes 3 bited to decide. i like lobster ok, (fresh is much better) but prefer med-large gulf of mexico shrimp. now THAT is true dietary delight!!

#109716 July 15th, 2005 at 12:07 AM
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I was gagging trying to get the first bite down, Jiffy! shk shocked I can't imagine trying to eat three bites of it........Yuck!

Dianna

#109717 July 15th, 2005 at 12:36 AM
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laugh laugh

#109718 July 15th, 2005 at 03:33 AM
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Dianna, you must believe this....

the stuff you were served has the consistancy of RUBBER and is barely edible.

FRESH lobster is NOT like that.

Merme

#109719 July 15th, 2005 at 03:50 AM
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Thankyou Merme.This topic has been a very interesting read.

I only had lobster once,blech,it tasted really gross.Now I know why.

Do you know how to cook one?I'd like to try fresh lobster.


flw duckie

#109720 July 15th, 2005 at 04:01 AM
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Oh, man...here it comes...the part I hate.
Dropping live creatures into boiling water... sca

#109721 July 15th, 2005 at 04:22 AM
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Originally posted by duckie:


Do you know how to cook one?I'd like to try fresh lobster.
Good for you, duckie! Then you can tell me if the taste changed any. laugh I don't think I have the stomach to try again. wink

Cindy...I take it you don't eat lobster, either?

Dianna

#109722 July 15th, 2005 at 04:31 AM
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Cindy...I take it you don't eat lobster, either?
I love lobster..... ters

...but I can't go into a restaurant and pick one out of a tank and then eat it.
It has to be a lobster I don't know...

#109723 July 15th, 2005 at 05:37 AM
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shk shk shk

oh no........can't you conk 'em on the head first?

#109724 July 15th, 2005 at 05:56 AM
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There is some dispute over which is the more humane method of preparing a lobster.

The traditional way is to toss it into a very very large pot of boiling water. Death is instantaneous; they don't slo--o-o-o-owly die or anything.

However, many top chefs believe that a certain chop technique is better but it takes much demonstration and practice to get it right. So most people still prefer the pot.

Merme

#109725 July 15th, 2005 at 06:22 AM
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toss it into a very very large pot of boiling water.
ters

#109726 July 15th, 2005 at 06:58 AM
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I am always a bit startled when folks get upset over the instantaneous way lobsters and crabs are prepared yet can eat beef, all manner of game, chicken and fish without a second thought.

Slaughtering food in preparation for eating is how we survive. It has never impressed me that tossing a crab or lobster into a rapidly boiling pot is somehow less humane than shooting a deer which always seems somehow so much more CONSCIOUS if you know what I mean by that?

When hunter's would give us venison, we'd make jokes about Bambi Burgers coz we all know Disney. Yet in spite of The Little Mermaid, a crab isn't a singing, dancing fellow named Sebastian with an Islander's accent. Or is it?

Merme

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