Rare orange lobster caught in Maine donated to research university

Updated: 3:42 PM EDT Jun 7, 2023

A 1-in-30-million catch in Casco Bay, Maine, has been donated to the Marine Science Center at the University of New England.Thirty times rarer than the famous blue lobster, the odds of seeing an orange lobster are about one in 30 million. A marine biologist at UNE in Biddeford, Maine, says they've never seen an orange lobster. They're excited for students to have a unique opportunity to study the vibrant creature.The exact mechanism for the rare color deviations is still a mystery."When you talk to scientists they tell you it's either environment or genetics but they don't tell you exactly which one it is," UNE's Charles Tilburg said. "And so the fact that we have a couple of these at the University of New England to actually look at this and help answer these particular questions" The same crew previously discovered a rare Calico lobster, which was also transferred to the UNE Marine Research Facility, where students affectionately call it Sprinkles.

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — A rare speckled lobster named Freckles will soon go on exhibit to the public as a welcome addition to the Virginia Living Museum's Chesapeake Bay Gallery.

Spared from a pot of boiling water, the new star of the museum now sits inside a cozy saltwater tank.

"As a person who loves all lobsters, it was very exciting," said Britt Sorensen, the museum's training and enrichment coordinator.

This lobster is, simply put, lucky.

"Lobsters are typically underrated," Sorenson said. "People usually just walk by and think that it's tasty or looks scary."

But what passersby will soon see on display is Freckles, who is adorned with golden speckles.

"This lobster is incredibly rare. It's a calico sort of orange and yellow, and it only happens in 1 in 30 million, which is ridiculous," she said.

The curiously-colored crustacean recently caught the eye of the cooks at a Red Lobster in Manassas, Virginia.

"They saw him and thought, 'This is not normal; this is new and special,'" Sorensen said.

Special enough to be spared from being served as a meal with the restaurant's famous Cheddar Bay biscuits. Red Lobster called the conservation experts instead.

"It's really great they saw that an opportunity to help this animal out and give him a home and contribute to the education of natural things," Sorensen said.

Sorensen says Freckles's speckles come from a protein deficiency, which also makes him prone to predators.

"This coloration shows more than a green, blue or brown coloration," she said.

There's no word on Freckles's age or how big he will get, but one thing Sorensen can confirm is that he's savvy and smart.

"Lobsters are incredibly intelligent - some scientists think as intelligent as an octopus," she said.

Freckles will now get used to his new home in a quarantine period before showing off his snazzy shell to the outside world.

This story was originally published by staff at WTKR.