Dubbed "Big Dee-Dee," the crustacean was caught in the Bay of Fundy, near Shediac, in July and ended up at Denis Breau's Big Fish market. He opened bidding on the lobster at $1,000 and two unidentified groups in the province of Ontario and Laura-Leah Shaw, a Vancouver, British Columbia, each posted $1,000 in a bid to save the lobster, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp., reported.

Shaw said her plan was to release the lobster into the Atlantic Ocean to spare it from being cooked but federal officials nixed that, saying she would have to get a permit, the Canwest News Service reported Monday.

Instead, market owner Breau said he decided in light of the international attention Big Dee-Dee got, he wouldn't accept any money and rather donate the lobster to the Huntsman Marine Science Center in St. Andrews, New Brunswick, the CBC said.