Costco, known for offering large items such as huge tubs of Nutella and wedding cakes made solely of cheese, is offering a product to its shoppers that’s making waves – monstrous lobster claws straight out of a seafarer’s bad dream.
What’s more, images of the nightmarish appendages have been popping up on Costco customers’ Instagram pages. In fact, the claws look so huge, that it’s hard to believe they’re not Photoshopped. Shoppers that shared the snaps mainly hail from California, and the packages shown feature Costco’s Kirkland brand on the labels.
USA Today reported that the lobster claws weigh in at around two to seven pounds. Apparently, the big box retailer plucked the Kraken-sized crustaceans out of their habitat in order to bring them to their customers’ dinner plates.
Speaking of Krakens, just how large can a lobster grow? Well, according to Smithsonian Magazine, one super-sized lobster trapped in Nova Scotia in 1977 weighed in at 44 pounds and six ounces. That monstrous arthropod also measured 3.5 feet in length. So, what would you put the clarified butter in to pair that guy’s claws with? A gallon bucket?
Additionally, lobsters can live to be 60 years old, so the behemoths in the Instagram photos probably eluded predators and fishermen’s traps for a few decades before Costco suppliers came along and scooped them up.
Lobster-eating enthusiasts, such as Instagram user Julesfood, didn’t share a mention of each crustacean’s ultimate sacrifice but did share pics of their massive claws. In Julesfood’s case, the claw weighed in at a hefty three pounds.
The post was captioned with, “I’ve seen a few big claws at Costco before, but this one’s crazy! We just had to get it. It might be 1/2 its weight in shell, but worth it already. The family’s had their fun photo ops, now it’s going on the grill…I hope we have enough butter.”
Instagram user Ratatine also commented on the ridiculously large claw, saying, “Does he have the world’s longest wrist or is this photoshopped?” Lobster fan killingtime246 found the photo mouthwatering and chimed in with, “Did you get an inside pic after cracking it open?”
Other fans of the post left butter jokes a-plenty, but Instagram user Jillfrezados pointed out the obvious: that your average claw crackers just won’t cut it. The hilarious comment went like this:
“I had the claw off a 15lb lobster when I was young- we had to use a car jack to crack it! Sliced it up, drenched on butter…mmmmm.”
Large lobsters, besides having eerily huge claws, have an exoskeleton that’s very tough to break open. In other words, a car jack, or maybe even power tools, might be the perfect match for their gargantuan shells. If fan reaction on Instagram is any indication, it’s a small price to pay in order to bring such a unique and delicious find for them to nosh on.
So far, Costco reps haven’t specified exactly where shoppers can find the ginormous lobster claws because their availability can vary quite a bit at different store locations. JulesFood wrote that they previously spied the claws pictured here.
The picture also caused followers to ponder how they would break into these claws. One user, Larstone, suggested using a hammer to crack them open.
Others were not fans of Costco’s latest big offering. For example, Instagram user Big_rik scolded the membership-only warehouse club by replying, “Shame on you @Costco this old dweller should have been left alone…”
Likewise, CTV News reported a similar story back in 2016. That story told of how a vegan woman, Catherine MacDonald, bought a 23-pound lobster just so she could release it back into the Bay of Fundy.
Of the giant crustacean, nicknamed “King Louie,” Macdonald said in a phone interview:
“It’s beautiful. For a lobster to be 23 pounds and to be that large, there was nothing else that was going to be a predator — except man.”
