Featured Image Credit: Screen shot/CBS 3 News Philadelphia
By: Sarah Sharkey
There will soon be another blue lobster in residence at the Adventure Aquarium in Camden, New Jersey. The 1.5-pound blue lobster was caught by a commercial lobster boat, the “Two Dukes” based in Sea Isle earlier this month.
Eric Burcaw Sr. is the owner of the boat and found the blue lobster about 85 miles off the New Jersey coast while fishing with his sons. He hoped that he would be able to find the bright crustacean a new home in a major aquarium. The Adventure Aquarium is sending two biologists to pick up the lobster soon.
This lobster will join Elvis the other blue lobster living in the Adventure Aquarium. Elvis has been featured on NBC’s Today show as well as a few other public appearances, the new lobster may start making headlines of his own though.
The blue coloring of these lobsters is caused by a genetic defect that is extremely uncommon in the wild. According to the Adventure Aquarium, only one in a million lobsters is blue.
Burcaw estimated this new blue lobster to be about 7 or 8 years old. Although scientists believe lobsters can live for as long as 100 years, an accurate way to determine their age has not been established yet.
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