It was October, king crab season had begun in Alaska, and Eric Menathi, a 10-year old Alaskan native, could finally join his uncle on his big crabbing boat.
Eric had always been obsessed with how his family caught crabs to earn a living. He was very interested in how the crabs walked sideways and were so much bigger than other crabs. The hard, sometimes thorny shell and the claws looked so bony and strong. So, after eating a crab, Eric would put them on his bedroom shelf.
On the big day, Eric’s uncle woke up early, even earlier than usual, to get the boat, and get the crab traps and bait ready, He was wearing a very thick layer of clothing, since it was Alaska–the land of frozen fingers. This was at 3:30 in the morning.
While he was getting the boat ready, Eric’s uncle heard some scuttling sounds along the main cabin’s walls, which he thought was very suspicious. However, when he checked it out he couldn’t find anything. He knew this was Eric’s big day, and he didn’t want to ruin it, so he ignored the sound.
Eric was scheduled to meet his uncle at 4:30 am next to the boat. Of course, Eric could barely sleep the previous night, so he decided to get out of bed early and go outside to really get awake before going out into the ocean for possibly over 10 hours.
At 4:30 am, Eric met his uncle, and they went onto the boat. Before 5, the crab traps were already prepared, with lots of delicious smelling meat that would entice crabs into the traps.
As the boat left the dock, Eric felt very excited and overwhelmed by the greatness of the salty-smelling ocean. Hopefully, the day would turn out great.
The season was relatively calm, and the boat glided along the ocean, the tip cutting the vast sea in half. Before long, the boat reached the first spot to drop the crab pots. Eric knew they had at least 50 crab pots to drop, and they were going to drop them in a big circle, a secret that his uncle taught him to get a wider region of bait smell to lure crabs into the pots.
It took them about 2 hours to drive around in a big circle, occasionally dropping a few crab traps.
Now all they had to do was wait.
“Hey uncle,” Eric asked, “How long have you been in the crabbing industry?”
Eric’s uncle replied, “For a long time, Eric, for a long time. Why, I can even remember my first crab I caught. It was a beautiful male crab with huge eyes and a very large body. It has been at least 30 years.”
“Wow, that’s a long time.”
While waiting, Eric heard the scuttling sound, the exact same sound that his uncle heard a few hours ago.
Like his uncle, Eric also ignored the sound and assumed it was made by smalls waves breaking against the hull of the boat.
Before long, it was time to check the first trap. The trip went very smoothly, and in every single trap there were at least 15 “keeper” crabs.
At the end of the trip, they had caught more than 800 crabs, all stored in the boat’s storage.
Before walking off the boat onto the doc, Eric heard the scuttling noise like a crab walking along the wooden planks of the boat, and saw a lobster attached to a leash.
Eric gasped, realizing the lobster had distinct gold marks around its claws, in addition to the vibrant bright red outer coating that seem unreal to be on a lobster., The lobster’s style meant that the crab belonged to the mayor of Juneau, and had been missing for a few weeks now. The lobster had been reported missing everywhere on the news.
And now it had been found. But how did it get onto the boat?
Eric had always been obsessed with how his family caught crabs to earn a living. He was very interested in how the crabs walked sideways and were so much bigger than other crabs. The hard, sometimes thorny shell and the claws looked so bony and strong. So, after eating a crab, Eric would put them on his bedroom shelf.
On the big day, Eric’s uncle woke up early, even earlier than usual, to get the boat, and get the crab traps and bait ready, He was wearing a very thick layer of clothing, since it was Alaska–the land of frozen fingers. This was at 3:30 in the morning.
While he was getting the boat ready, Eric’s uncle heard some scuttling sounds along the main cabin’s walls, which he thought was very suspicious. However, when he checked it out he couldn’t find anything. He knew this was Eric’s big day, and he didn’t want to ruin it, so he ignored the sound.
Eric was scheduled to meet his uncle at 4:30 am next to the boat. Of course, Eric could barely sleep the previous night, so he decided to get out of bed early and go outside to really get awake before going out into the ocean for possibly over 10 hours.
At 4:30 am, Eric met his uncle, and they went onto the boat. Before 5, the crab traps were already prepared, with lots of delicious smelling meat that would entice crabs into the traps.
As the boat left the dock, Eric felt very excited and overwhelmed by the greatness of the salty-smelling ocean. Hopefully, the day would turn out great.
The season was relatively calm, and the boat glided along the ocean, the tip cutting the vast sea in half. Before long, the boat reached the first spot to drop the crab pots. Eric knew they had at least 50 crab pots to drop, and they were going to drop them in a big circle, a secret that his uncle taught him to get a wider region of bait smell to lure crabs into the pots.
It took them about 2 hours to drive around in a big circle, occasionally dropping a few crab traps.
Now all they had to do was wait.
“Hey uncle,” Eric asked, “How long have you been in the crabbing industry?”
Eric’s uncle replied, “For a long time, Eric, for a long time. Why, I can even remember my first crab I caught. It was a beautiful male crab with huge eyes and a very large body. It has been at least 30 years.”
“Wow, that’s a long time.”
While waiting, Eric heard the scuttling sound, the exact same sound that his uncle heard a few hours ago.
Like his uncle, Eric also ignored the sound and assumed it was made by smalls waves breaking against the hull of the boat.
Before long, it was time to check the first trap. The trip went very smoothly, and in every single trap there were at least 15 “keeper” crabs.
At the end of the trip, they had caught more than 800 crabs, all stored in the boat’s storage.
Before walking off the boat onto the doc, Eric heard the scuttling noise like a crab walking along the wooden planks of the boat, and saw a lobster attached to a leash.
Eric gasped, realizing the lobster had distinct gold marks around its claws, in addition to the vibrant bright red outer coating that seem unreal to be on a lobster., The lobster’s style meant that the crab belonged to the mayor of Juneau, and had been missing for a few weeks now. The lobster had been reported missing everywhere on the news.
And now it had been found. But how did it get onto the boat?
