BATMAN
07-17-2006, 10:00 AM
An eastern Maine lobsterman caught a lobster last week that looks like it's half-cooked.
The lobster caught by Alan Robinson in Dyer's Bay is a typical mottled green on one side; the other side is a shade of orange that looks cooked.
Robinson, of Steuben, donated the lobster to the Mount Desert Oceanarium. Staff members say the odds or finding a half-and-half lobster are 1 in 50 million to 100 million. By comparison, the odds of finding a blue lobster are about 1 in a million.
http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/ap/10a73ade-30f7-4752-a8f7-a21b7f74cccf.widec.jpg
Robinson, who has been fishing for more than 20 years, said he didn't know what to think when he spotted the odd creature in his trap.
"I thought somebody was playing a joke on me," Robinson said. "Once I saw what it was ... it was worth seeing."
Bette Spurling, who works at the oceanarium, said lobster shells are usually a blend of the three primary colors: red, yellow and blue. Those colors mix to form the greenish-brown color of most lobsters. This lobster, though, has no blue in half of its shell, she said.
Bernard Arseneau, a former manager at the oceanarium's lobster hatchery, said lobsters also have a growth pattern in which the two sides develop independently of each other.
The oceanarium has received only three two-toned lobsters in its 35 years of existence, staff members said.
The lobster caught by Alan Robinson in Dyer's Bay is a typical mottled green on one side; the other side is a shade of orange that looks cooked.
Robinson, of Steuben, donated the lobster to the Mount Desert Oceanarium. Staff members say the odds or finding a half-and-half lobster are 1 in 50 million to 100 million. By comparison, the odds of finding a blue lobster are about 1 in a million.
http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/ap/10a73ade-30f7-4752-a8f7-a21b7f74cccf.widec.jpg
Robinson, who has been fishing for more than 20 years, said he didn't know what to think when he spotted the odd creature in his trap.
"I thought somebody was playing a joke on me," Robinson said. "Once I saw what it was ... it was worth seeing."
Bette Spurling, who works at the oceanarium, said lobster shells are usually a blend of the three primary colors: red, yellow and blue. Those colors mix to form the greenish-brown color of most lobsters. This lobster, though, has no blue in half of its shell, she said.
Bernard Arseneau, a former manager at the oceanarium's lobster hatchery, said lobsters also have a growth pattern in which the two sides develop independently of each other.
The oceanarium has received only three two-toned lobsters in its 35 years of existence, staff members said.