LOBSTER ESCAPES THE POT
AN incredibly rare bright orange lobster has been saved from the cooking pot after a restaurateur recognised it was a one in 30 million catch.
Instead of serving her up to customers staff at The Lobster Pot in Church Bay, Anglesey, donated the crustacean to Anglesey Sea Zoo in Brynsiencyn.
The Common European lobster is usually a mottled dark blue/greenybrown colour until it is boiled when it turns the orangey/pink colour which seafood lovers will be familiar with.
It is the first time that anyone at Anglesey Sea Zoo has even seen a common lobster in the bright orange form, which has a probability of just one in 30 million chance of being caught.
Staff at the sea zoo were contacted over the weekend by Tristan Wood, director at The Lobster Pot, who recognised the rare catch as soon as he saw it and was keen for it to become part of the centre’s conservation and breeding programme.
Tristan said: “As soon as I saw this amazing female in the lobster catch, she stood out from all the other lobsters, and I knew she was unique and I had to save her from the pot!
“In all the years I have been working in sustainable lobster fisheries, this is the first time I have seen a bright orange individual like this one. Anglesey Sea Zoo’s Lobster of Hatchery of Wales is the perfect place for her to go!”
Staff at the sea zoo also got an extra surprise when they discovered that the lobster is carrying eggs, but it is not known if her offspring will share her rare colouring.
The lobster is now on display at the sea zoo.
Frankie Hobro, owner and director at Anglesey Sea Zoo said: “This is an incredibly exciting addition to our ongoing captive breeding and conservation programme in the Lobster Hatchery of Wales, and for research into the Common Lobster, particularly as this individual is a female carrying eggs, known as a “berried hen”.
“We are eagerly anticipating the release of her larvae to see if they are also as orange as the female, and to see as the juveniles develop and grow, if any of them are bright orange.
“It will be very interesting to see if the adult female remains the same orange colour when she next moults, as our experience shows that the vivid blue coloured lobsters can change their colour through moulting.
“We are delighted to be able to show our visitors this incredibly rare animal!”
It is not the first time that the sea zoo has taken in rare creatures having housed the unusual vivid blue lobster, which have a one in two million chance of being caught, over the last few years.
The centre also has one of the bright blue lobsters on display at the moment.
The only colour thought to be rarer than the orange form is the albino lobster, and the odds of catching one of these is considered to be one in 100 million.
Anglesey Sea Zoo releases around 200-300 juvenile lobsters a year to help maintain stocks around North Wales and in the Irish Sea.
Female lobsters carrying eggs are supplied by local fishermen, under a special licence, in order to contribute to the conservation and research programme, and then re-released a few weeks later once their eggs have hatched.
However, this special lobster and her offspring will be kept at the sea zoo for longer due to her “incredible research value”.