Rare orange lobster found in Gatlinburg restaurant

GATLINBURG, Tenn. (WVLT) - A rare, orange lobster is now at Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies after being discovered at a restaurant in Gatlinburg.

Chesapeake’s called Ripley’s up last week and said, “hey you have to come see what was in our lobster order.”

The chance of finding an orange lobster is about one in 30 million. The surprise here, they now have two after another was donated two weeks ago from Mississippi.

As to why so many have been found recently they don’t know, but believe it’s the power of social media. Both are being evaluated by scientists.

“They eat a particular pigment in their diet and that is ingested and the genetics of the individual lobster will flip that color around and create what we actually see,” said Jarred Durrett, Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies.

Once they determine the lobsters are healthy they’ll put them in a tank for viewing in Gatlinburg.

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