Boston

Old Saybrook Business Owner Upset About TSA Picture With 20-Pound Lobster

"The idea that a TSA agent is manhandling our things, that wasn’t part of the equation when I was filling the cooler"

The owner of a Connecticut fish market is feeling a little crusty about the way a 20-pound crustacean she packed was handled by a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) screener at Boston's Logan Airport.

The pictures posted on Twitter and Instagram by the TSA on Monday have been shared thousands of times.

The Instagram caption explains that an officer "needed to remove this giant lobster from its container to resolve a checked baggage alarm."

TSA guidelines allow live lobsters in carry-on and checked bags.

But the owner of Atlantic Seafood Market in Old Saybrook who packed the lobster, Lisa Feinman, is calling the post a violation of personal property.

"The idea that a TSA agent is manhandling our things, that wasn’t part of the equation when I was filling the cooler," Feinman said.

Fienman special ordered the 20-pound lobster and about a dozen other lobsters for a customer from Georgia. She packed the crustaceans in a special, leak-proof cooler that was labeled to indicate live lobsters were inside.

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The seafood market owner said she understands the TSA has a job to keep travelers safe, but doesn’t understand why a picture needed to be taken.

"For me it became, wait, these are our personal belongings. Who's taking pictures of our stuff and what other stuff are they taking pictures of?” Feinman said.

The officer didn’t handle the lobster properly, either, Feinman added. She said a lobster is supposed to be held by its body, underneath the arms, to support the weight — especially a 20-pound lobster that holds most of its weight in its arms.

"(My customer) opened up his cooler. The biggest lobster was sitting at the top, all the other lobsters were underneath it, no more paper to keep it cool. You know, it was just improper," she said.

Feinman took to Facebook about the picture and said she called the TSA. NBC Connecticut made multiple calls to the agency Tuesday.

Feinman also called Sen. Richard Blumenthal's office.

Blumenthal told NBC Connecticut that he will be demanding answers from the TSA, calling the incident an invasion of privacy done for the officers’ amusement.

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