Lobster Institute statistics cited in media reports on orange lobster

The Associated Press, Metro, Newsweek, Boston magazine, United Press International, WBZ (Channel 4 in Boston), WHDH (Channel 7 in Boston), The Washington Post, CBS News and Richland Standard cited statistics from the Lobster Institute at the University of Maine in a report of a rare orange lobster discovered at a Massachusetts supermarket. Roche Bros. Supermarkets said workers at their Westborough store found the lobster in a shipment of crustaceans from Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, AP reported. According to the Lobster Institute, the likelihood of a lobster being orange is about 1 in 30 million, the reports stated. Bob Bayer, executive director of the Lobster Institute, told Newsweek the unique coloration is the result of a genetic variation. There also have been instances of blue lobsters being discovered, but orange ones are even rarer, Bayer said. The lobster was donated to the New England Aquarium in Boston. Aquarium officials said the crustacean is about 7 to 9 years old and it is lucky to be alive because its color was “flashing a neon sign” to predators. Maine Public, News Center Maine, The Seattle Times, Morning Sentinel and Kennebec Journal carried the AP article.