It's hard to believe, but this 18-pound lobster has been hanging out in a tank at Mullaney's Fish Market, near Boston, most of the summer.

"We've had people come in who wanted to buy him for the Fourth, but we decided we don't want to sell him," said owner Joby Norton. "We're better off letting him go so he can live out his life."

Norton plans to send him back out to sea on a lobster boat as soon as this weekend.

Experts believe the giant crustacean is about 75 years old. It's covered in barnacles and recently got caught in an offshore trawler before ending up at Mullaney's.

"It's hard to tell the exact age when they get that big because there's no rings like a tree," he said.

The staff named the lobster "Luke."

"He's made it this long," added Norton. "We'd rather let him go."

By the way, the Massachusetts Lobstermen's Association claimed the record for the largest lobster back in 1974 when it caught a 37.4-pound "Big George" off Cape Cod. The average lobster weights about 1.5 pounds.