In the final hours of his life last weekend, he was plucked from anonymity, nestled in darkness at the bottom of an insulated cooler and given a name: Dinnah, like how a Mainer might pronounce the last meal of the day. His fate was sealed, literally, with Dinnah placed at the bottom and a layer of smaller friends on top in the cooler, which was wrapped with duct tape.

His owner, Christopher Stracuzza, a 32-year-old auto-body repairman from Savannah, Ga., wanted Dinnah, a hulking 20-pound American lobster, and another 20 pounds of more-modest crustaceans to reach their final destination peacefully. “You don’t think a lobster gets stressed too?” Mr. Stracuzza said.

But the lobster’s final journey, from a tank at a seafood market in Connecticut to a propane cooker in Savannah, was bumpy and controversial, and included a brush with internet celebrity. It started after Mr. Stracuzza checked in for a JetBlue flight from Boston back home on Sunday morning and placed the cooler on a conveyor belt for oversize checked luggage.

Image Dinnah, on the far side of the table, a 20-pound American lobster, after Christopher Stracuzza cooked him on Sunday evening in Savannah, Ga. Credit... Christopher Stracuzza

According to officials with the Transportation Security Administration, agents at Logan International Airport in Boston conducted an initial screening of the container — marked “Live Lobster!” in black marker — but still had concerns. Agents removed the duct tape and opened the cooler to take a closer look.