Noel Edmonds has admitted that the lobsters he set free in the sea might now be dead, saying: "We probably only delayed the inevitable." The former Deal Or No Deal host recently faced backlash after releasing live, shop-bought lobsters back into the sea.
Last week, Noel, 77, posted a video showing him and his wife Liz purchasing two crustaceans from a shop in the Isle of Man with the intention of setting them free. Alongside the footage, he wrote: "We love and respect all creatures great and small."
In a new post, Noel, who divides his time between the UK and New Zealand, addressed the furore after receiving a less-than-positive response from followers.
Noel's explanation
Speaking in a new video posted to Instagram, he said: "It's finally time to talk about lobsters and pork pies. There have been some really naughty minxy people telling some real whopping pork pies about the whole saga of the lobster and the Isle of Man Farm Shop.
"I've got a holiday home here, I really like it. It's like what England used to be before it became what it is now. We know all our neighbours and they're lovely. I've still got the place in New Zealand and I've got the farm. Actually I've got two farms and a vineyard. Back to the farm shop and the lobsters, so, Matt has this farm shop, and it's really good and he tries as much as he can to sell Manx produce and he's also got great gifts there.
"We were in there and Liz saw two lobsters in a tank, and she said 'Oh, I feel sorry for them. I'd like to buy them and release them,' and Matt said 'You're not the first person to say that.' He offered us them for nothing but we paid for them because we felt that was really important."
He said the temperature of the tank was similar to where they came from, and told them how to release them and take the little bands off their claws.
Backlash and response
"At that point, the lobsters were ours and it was our choice to return them to their natural habitat as best we could. We had to do it in the harbour because we don't have a boat. We probably only delayed the inevitable, but maybe they're out there having a wonderful time."
Noel disabled comments on the original post, but previous messages from followers included: "Lovely sentiment, but from a marine biologist perspective it's best not to release captive lobsters. Disease transfer and genetic mixing are real concerns to native populations - also restaurants will order more lobsters and sell them knowing people will release them - you're liable to big fines for doing this."
Matt Harrison slammed the backlash against the Channel 4 presenter but defended his decision to sell live lobsters, explaining that they are locally caught and delivered every two weeks. "I'm sensitive to people's feelings," he said. "But the vast majority of people want us to keep it and for us to keep supporting local businesses, which is the whole point of the shop. I'm still mulling over whether to keep it. There are still lobsters in there; they're really healthy. We're just going to see what happens. But customers will be able to buy it in plenty of other places along the Peel seafront."
Many others took aim at Noel online, questioning why he put the lobsters in further danger by removing them from the tank. "You can't do that with lobsters, they can't handle fast changes in water temperature, they just wouldn't survive it," a Reddit user commented. "Especially with sea temperatures being around 20c in shallow waters at the moment." A Twitter commenter added: "I do understand the good will and intention of Noel and his wife, but those lobsters would have been stressed and unlikely to last very long in the sea."
