Last November, lobsterman Robinson Russell was taken aback by what he discovered in his trap.
“I reside on Grand Manan, a little island off the coast of New Brunswick, Canada,” Russell told The Dodo. “I’ve been fishing for almost 20 years and this is the first one of that color I’ve ever seen.”
With his bright, almost translucent shell glowing with hints of pale blue and purple, Lucky the lobster couldn’t help but stand out from the crowd.
Though at times he appears white, Lucky does not have albinism. His unique rainbow pigmentation has even earned him the nickname the “cotton candy” lobster.
Researchers with the Lobster Institute at the University of Maine estimate that a lobster like Lucky is one in 100 million, and Russell knew that he may never see a catch so special again.
According to Cynthia Callahan, manager of the Huntsman Marine Science Center, the lobster’s distinctive brownish-green hue is created by the expression of several pigments in his shell. Lucky’s distinctive coloration is caused by a genetic mutation that causes one or more of the red, blue, or yellow pigments in the shell to show through. Lobsters come in a variety of colors, and Russell has seen lobsters that were brilliant orange, blue, and yellow all arrive from the same bay.
Lucky, on the other hand, was the rarest of all.
Russell was well aware that Lucky was unique, and he couldn’t bear the thought of the rare animal ending up on someone’s plate.
Russell stated, “We dubbed it Lucky on the way in, and I shared a couple images of it on Instagram.” “I couldn’t bear the thought of selling it, so I donated it to the Huntsman [Marine] Aquarium in St. Andrews, where it will now spend the remainder of its days.”
While we still hope this lobster makes it back to the wild one day, Russell’s act of kindness has ensured he has another chance at life.
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