Photo by Crosb.

A lot of weird stuff often shows up floating the Potomac River. (Our personal favorite? “Intersex” fish, which developed both male and female reproductive organs due to the dumping of several “endocrine disruptors” into the water.) But lobsters? That’s a new one. But WTOP’s Neal Augenstein reports that a whole bunch of them were seen on the shores of the Potomac down in Woodbridge.

The AP notes that Leesylvania State Park rangers believe that the lobsters were likely dumped in the river as part of a local Chinese church’s custom to return crustaceans to the water after the Lunar New Year. Of course, since lobsters live in saltwater, they all died and washed up on the shore.

And let’s be honest: even if they could live in freshwater, those wanting to honor the arthropods for the New Year really aren’t be doing them any favors by plopping them down in a body of water laced with road grease, fertilizer and raw sewage.