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So I suppose that\u2019s why summer is the only season in which I\u2019ve been an eyewitness to similar lobster antics in myriad settings \u2013 including the laboratory, and in the intertidal, shallow, and deep subtidal zones.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Summer is the easiest time to study lobster behavior.<\/p>\n
So I suppose that\u2019s why summer is the only season in which I\u2019ve been an eyewitness to similar lobster antics in myriad settings \u2013 including the laboratory, and in the intertidal, shallow, and deep subtidal zones.<\/p>\n
In Part 1 of this four-part series, I outlined the 23 years of research I planned to draw on \u2013 including studies I\u2019ve done on lobsters in nature over many years \u2013 to take you on a journey through \u201cA Year in the Life of a Lobster.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, to finish the series with the most interesting things I\u2019ve learned about lobsters in summer, I needed to go back even further in time \u2013 33 years ago \u2013 to include those laboratory studies.<\/p>\n
And, for this final installment in the series, I also wanted to include diving, both shallow and deep, to chronicle lobster behavior firsthand.<\/p>\n
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In the pound\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
On a summer\u2019s day in Maine, it is sheer pleasure to dive into the shallow waters of the Friendship lobster pound and circle around to check out what the lobsters are up to in their underwater world.<\/p>\n
I usually begin my lobster census off Pickup Point \u2013 originally named for the ancient abandoned GMC pickup truck tucked away in the spruce trees \u2013 but also aptly named for what adult lobsters do amidst the rocks tumbling down from the bedrock outcrop.<\/p>\n
Inside shelter \u201cY1\u201d male lobster \u201cM32\u201d uses mouthparts and front legs as a bulldozer to push sand and gravel out of his entrance somewhat like sweeping filth from a dirt floor using a live broom.<\/p>\n
Such chores are all part of the daily routine for a mature male hoping to attract a receptive female lobster
\nto his spiffy den.<\/p>\n
Nosing up to shelter \u201cY5,\u201d I realize that Pickup Point embodies its dual meaning as I watch the resident male saunter up to the female poking her claws inside his shelter entrance and flicking antennules (short pair of antennae) to catch a whiff.<\/p>\n
\u201cM1\u201d flicks back and moves forward to tap the tips of her claws, then higher and higher up toward her knuckles.\u00a0 I think he can reckon how hollow she might be inside…<\/p>\n
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