Free to roam the ocean floor

Freedom, while delayed, was nonetheless sweet for Craig the Crustacean, a 20-lound lobster, released last week from a Dyker Heights eatery into the cold, clear water off the coast of Maine. The overgrown lobster was chauffeured from Halu Japanese restaurant by Larry Fleming, a Manhattan bakery shop owner who lives in Maine. Craig, estimated to be 140-years old, was passed off in New Hampshire to volunteers from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), who returned the ancient beast to his ocean abode. Craig’s release three days earlier was delayed after the United Parcel Service couldn’t guarantee the lobster’s safe transport, said Gina Ng, Halu’s co-owner. Ng said she contacted PETA when she saw the obvious discomfort the burly lobster was having in his tank, made cramped by his substantial girth. Ng, an admitted lobster eater, said the experience with Craig may have forever changed her eating habits. “I’ll have steak instead,” she said. – Gary Buiso