Record-breaking oyster becomes NSW family pet

Farmer Kirk Hargreaves has been caring for the mammoth oyster named Uncle Ray on the Sapphire Coast.

The mollusc measures over 36cm, which means it could take out the world record for the biggest oyster.

The record is currently held by a Pacific oyster from Denmark which measured 35.5cm in length and weighed roughly 1.6kg.

Hargreaves instantly knew Uncle Ray was special and said it’s not every day an oyster grows to this size.

“We identified him as a really quick-growing oyster from early on,” Hargreaves said.

“It’s very rare. He’s the biggest in Australia at the moment and probably the world.”

Uncle Ray was a prize-winner during the Narooma Oyster Festival and now his family is hoping for the creature to trump world records.

“He got weighed at the Narooma Oyster Festival on Saturday and he was 2.71 kilograms and he measures roughly around the world record so we’re hoping we’re going to take the chocolates at the end of the year,” Hargreaves said.

The mollusc is expected to keep growing and live for years to come, especially as the Hargreaves family continues to care for it.

“He’s growing every year, like last year we put him in the competition and he was 2.3 kilograms and now obviously he’s 2.71 kilograms,” Hargreaves said.