On a cloudy day in Portland, Maine, with the sound of seagulls cawing overhead and the air thick with the smell of salty water, I spied him: TikTok’s most famous lobsterman, dressed in a Luke’s Lobster T-shirt and accompanied by a bearded camera operator, ready to catch content at any moment.
In perhaps the most iconically Maine setting imaginable, I was meeting Jacob Knowles, 30, the internet’s most beloved lobsterman who’s been credited with educating the masses about the lobstering industry.
Described by The New York Times as an “online veteran,” Knowles has been documenting his hunting and fishing experiences since he was a teenager. However, his fame — and follower count — really began to climb when he started posting videos from his lobster boat, where he works as a full-time lobsterman.
Knowles is possibly the most famous person to hail from the small fishing village of Winter Harbor, Maine, which has just 315 residents. He is best known for his short-form videos showing the rare lobsters he catches, as well as “eggers,” which are female, breeding lobsters that store their eggs under their tails.
Knowles now has about 750,000 followers on Instagram and 3.1 million followers on TikTok, where his videos have attracted the attention of some 93.4 million viewers.
By any social media influencer’s metrics, it’s an impressive following. But for a “blue-collar” worker navigating the seas of an increasingly glamorous and wealth-driven social media landscape, it’s even more of a feat.
Here’s everything you need to know about Jacob Knowles.
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