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April Keys News
Giant Spiny Lobsters invade Big Pine Key
There have been numerous reports of giant Spiny Lobsters, some as big as six feet long, invading the shallows around Big Pine Key. Eyewitness snorkelers have been chased out of the water by these enormous crawfish. Big Pine Key resident and environmental guide Captain Bill Keysholes said “They come right at you waving five to six foot antenna as big around as my arm and with spines the size of Key Lime thorns.. Several of my clients have been badly scratched up and one lost a finger in a flapping tail when trying to fend off one of the monsters that was advancing on his son. Bill snapped the photo at right, which shows the lobster beginning its attack, just before he realized the danger. 
Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Superintendent Billy (The Marlin) Causway theorizes the greatly reduced commercial trapping the last two years has allowed a population explosion of the Florida Spiny Lobster. "This and a previously unknown nutrient contanimation from the Louisiana bayous, flowing into the Gulf of Mexico after Hurricane Katrina, may have contributed to producing these abnormal growth spurts." said Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary's Public Outreach Specialist Chevy Heckofaguy.
There are other reports of the Louisiana Crayfish sauce reaching as far north as Maine, carried by the Gulf Stream, and producing more giants.
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Earnie Boragine, executive director of the Florida Keys Commercial Fishermen’s Association (seen at left with two Giant Lobster Droppings) believes this will further burden local fisherman who will need to retool all their fishing equipment, from trap size to holding tanks to accommodate the larger size crustaceans.
