Florida Red Lobster Employees Rescue Rare Orange Lobster Shipped to Restaurant
Cheddar the lobster
A rare lobster is settling into its new home after employees at a Red Lobster restaurant spotted the creature's unique coloring and decided to save the crustacean.
Employees at a Hollywood, Florida, Red Lobster recently received a live lobster shipment that contained a rare orange lobster, according to a release from Red Lobster Seafood Co. The release added that one-in-30 million lobsters end up bright orange, and it is unusual for the crustacean to reach maturity because its bright color attracts predators.
After spotting the orange lobster in its seafood shipment, the Florida Red Lobster restaurant knew the crustacean had to be remarkable. The restaurant's employees contacted Ripley's Aquarium of Myrtle Beach in South Carolina about finding the orange lobster a home, Red Lobster Seafood Co shared it in its statement.
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According to the release, the aquarium "happily welcomed" the orange lobster and arranged with Red Lobster to move the rare creature to its new home.
The teams from Red Lobster and Ripley's settled on "Cheddar" for the lobster's name — a nod at the restaurant chain's famous biscuits.
Ripley’s Aquarium of Myrtle Beach Cheddar the lobster with Red Lobster manager Mario Roque
"Sometimes ordinary miracles happen, and Cheddar is one of them. A group of incredible people helped us make this possible. We are so honored to have been able to save Cheddar and find her a good home," Mario Roque, the Red Lobster manager who helped lead Cheddar's rescue, said in a statement.
On July 12, Ripley's Aquarium of Myrtle Beach posted a video on Instagram of the day aquarium workers picked up Cheddar from Red Lobster and transported the lobster to its new home in a cooler filled with water.
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Unique lobsters have been rescued from the seafood chain's locations before.
In 2020, a female lobster with a rare blue shell was delivered to an Ohio Red Lobster restaurant. After noticing the crustacean's unusual coloring, restaurant employees found it a new home at the Akron Zoo.
