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Rare one-in-30-million orange lobster rescued from Volusia seafood store

Rare one-in-30-million orange lobster rescued from Volusia seafood store
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Rare one-in-30-million orange lobster rescued from Volusia seafood store
A local seafood store owner may have hit the crustacean jackpot.Larry Hurt of Fresh Local Seafood in Orange City opened his daily shipment of Maine lobsters Friday morning to find one that didn't look like the rest. Its shell was a bright orange. Hurt recognized the uniqueness of the lobster and spared it from its destiny on a dinner plate. Only 1 in 30 million lobsters are born with orange coloring, so it’s extremely rare to find one.Hurt says he will not sell the lobster who he named Larry. Instead, he wants to donate Larry to an aquarium.Due to its bright coloring, experts say the lobster would be considered an easy target for predators in the wild.They also say lobsters can live up to 100 years and grow to more than 3 feet long and weigh more than 40 pounds.To hide from predators, most lobsters are dark blue or green in color. However, due to genetic variations, lobsters occasionally have yellow or calico shells.One of the rarest is the ‘Halloween’ lobster, which is evenly divided into half black and half orange. It is thought that just one in every 100 million lobsters experiences this phenomenon. Fishermen have also brought in lobsters known as ‘cotton candy’ or ‘ghost’ lobsters because of their white or translucent shells.In October 2021, an orange lobster was rescued from a tank in an Ontario grocery store, according to The Guardian. The lobster was rehomed to an aquarium in Toronto.And a week before that instance, a restaurant in Arizona got its hands on an orange lobster and donated it to an aquarium in Scottsdale.Lobsters can live 100 years, and grow to 4-feet-long and 40 pounds, in captivity. In the ocean, they are likely to be caught for food and live much shorter lives.

A local seafood store owner may have hit the crustacean jackpot.

Larry Hurt of Fresh Local Seafood in Orange City opened his daily shipment of Maine lobsters Friday morning to find one that didn't look like the rest. Its shell was a bright orange.

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Hurt recognized the uniqueness of the lobster and spared it from its destiny on a dinner plate.

Only 1 in 30 million lobsters are born with orange coloring, so it’s extremely rare to find one.

Hurt says he will not sell the lobster who he named Larry. Instead, he wants to donate Larry to an aquarium.

Due to its bright coloring, experts say the lobster would be considered an easy target for predators in the wild.

They also say lobsters can live up to 100 years and grow to more than 3 feet long and weigh more than 40 pounds.

To hide from predators, most lobsters are dark blue or green in color. However, due to genetic variations, lobsters occasionally have yellow or calico shells.

One of the rarest is the ‘Halloween’ lobster, which is evenly divided into half black and half orange. It is thought that just one in every 100 million lobsters experiences this phenomenon. Fishermen have also brought in lobsters known as ‘cotton candy’ or ‘ghost’ lobsters because of their white or translucent shells.

In October 2021, an orange lobster was rescued from a tank in an Ontario grocery store, according to The Guardian. The lobster was rehomed to an aquarium in Toronto.

And a week before that instance, a restaurant in Arizona got its hands on an orange lobster and donated it to an aquarium in Scottsdale.

Lobsters can live 100 years, and grow to 4-feet-long and 40 pounds, in captivity. In the ocean, they are likely to be caught for food and live much shorter lives.