Maine pound shows off rare orange, live lobsters

[July 06, 2009]  YORK, Maine (AP) -- Two orange lobsters that look as though they've just emerged from a steamer pot are definitely alive and pinching in Maine.

Jeremy Mirick, co-owner of the lobster pound at the York Fitness Center in York, Maine, says the two orange lobsters in his tank aren't for sale.

Officials at the New England Aquarium say orange lobsters are a one in 30 million rarity, but they've gotten reports of 10 to 12 of them in the region in the last two weeks. The reason is unknown, though color variations usually are genetic.

Spokesman Tony LaCasse told the Portsmouth Herald that he thinks the orange lobsters, which have shown up on Cape Cod, Massachusetts' south shore and in Maine, are coming in from a Canadian distributor.

Mirick said his lobsters came from Harpswell, Maine.

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Information from: Portsmouth Herald, http://www.seacoastonline.com/

[Associated Press]

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