MAINE – Once in a while fishermen come across a blue lobster they are the most common oddity, but rare items like a yellow lobster or a bi-color lobster are much much rarer.
A man named Marley Babb, a Tenants Harbor lobsterman, who caught the crustacean donated it to The New England University. The lobster named Banana was kindly donated for research due to its extreme rarity.
“After working Wednesday, Marley insisted on driving Banana all the way down from Tenant’s Harbor to drop her off,” commented Lindsay Forrette, M.S., lab coordinator and chemical hygiene officer in the School of Marine and Environmental Programs. “Banana is about a pound to a pound and a half and is settling in nicely here at the MSC.”
This isnt uncommon University of New England works with local fisherman for environmental programs and research.
“UNE has cultivated strong connections with lobstermen and Maine DMR,” stated Charles Tilburg, Ph.D., director of the School of Marine and Environmental Programs. “It was through those connections that Markus learned about Banana and Lindsay was able to coordinate with Marley from there.”
The University of New England is sharing an $860,000 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) with the Maine Department of Marine Resources, Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, and Hood College in Maryland to study the impact that a warming Gulf of Maine is having on lobster larvae and their success in growing to adulthood.
About one in 30 million lobsters have yellow shells, due to a overproduction of protein in the shell. The most rare lobster is the albino lobster that only occurs in 1 in 1 million.
