Lobsters are often sold live to those who want them that way (ostensibly for later cooking) and then cooked/boiled along with the trimmings (drawn butter, lemon juice and whatever sides) in what's called a
lobster pound.
Our first night in ME, the gang went to one of these in Southwest Harbor, ME, a very small town on Mt. Desert Island.
You line up and in front of you are salt water tanks with live lobsters congregated in them. Their claws (one for crushing and the other for slicing) are immobilized with rubber bands. You tell the guy what you're looking for and if it's lobster (usually about 1.5 lbs. in weight), he grabs one out of the tank and weighs it. You're charged by the weight of the bug.
Yes, that's right. Lobsters, like their cousins the crawfish, are bugs. Although the biology people will use a lofty name like "crustacean" when describing said bugs, do not be deceived. Those critters are bugs.
Then the guy takes that lobster, along with an ear of corn, and puts it in a mesh/rope bag, then puts it in line. Another guy will, in turn, take the individual orders and put them in a large steam vat.
You can't hear the lobster screaming in pain. But you can sense it.
Anyway, a couple minutes of that then they plate up the critter, along with the corn, you pay your money, and off you go to the outdoor picnic tables to eat your bug. And corn.
I saw one place where people had BYOB - essentially a box of wine.
The smell in that place was, not surprisingly, like fish.
Completely destroyed my appetite.