Orange lobsters puzzle Islanders, scientists

A federal fisheries scientist has come to Prince Edward Island to investigate dozens of lobsters with orange shells.

Lobsters normally turn a unique shade of orange when they're cooked. But a crateful of live orange lobsters turned up recently in Plymouth, Mass. The mystery has its roots somewhere in the Northumberland Strait, off the coast of P.E.I.

• FROM JULY 4, 2003: Orange lobsters causing quite a stir (pei.cbc.ca)

• FROM JULY 20, 2002: Why lobsters change their 'stripes' when cooked

The orange shellfish have been good for a joke or two.

"This lad showed up and I knew he was always coming for cooked lobster," said lobster buyer Jamie Rayner. "So I told him to go in and take his pick. About the time he reached in the crate to take his pick, the eyeball moved and up came the claw."

Rayner didn't realize the chances of finding an orange lobster are about one in four million. This season he has seen almost 80.

The rare lobsters have attracted federal fisheries scientist Marc Lanteigne, who has come to collect samples from about a dozen orange lobsters. He'll take them back to his lab in Moncton for DNA tests.

"By the range of size, it doesn't seem to be from the same family," says Lanteigne. "So it's not coming from the same mother."

• FROM DEC. 5, 2002 (Really) rare lobster caught in Nova Scotia

The orange colour is a clue. Lanteigne says it is the "real" colour of lobsters.

A fatty acid makes most lobsters turn green, so something may be missing from the diet of the orange ones. The mystery is, what did the lobsters eat and where?

The search for answers has moved to the laboratory and the harbours where the lobsters landed.

Rayner knows the lobsters came from somewhere along P.E.I.'s southeastern shore. He's trying to track down who caught them.

In the meantime, he's selling this season's orange lobsters at a premium for those who want to put them on display, not the dinner table.