“Rare Blue and Orange Lobster Finds New Home”

In his four decades as a lobster fisherman, Robert Wagner encountered a unique sight: a lobster split in half, with one side blue and the other orange. Wagner, amazed by the rarity, named the lobster Oscar and reached out to Dalhousie University to offer it a new home. Nadia Stewart from Dalhousie’s Beaty Centre for Marine Biodiversity explained that lobsters like Oscar, with distinct colors, are often targeted by predators in the wild due to their visibility. Oscar’s coloring, occurring in about one in 50 million lobsters, results from a genetic mutation during egg development. After a month of care by Wagner’s family, Oscar was relocated to Dalhousie University. Acclimating well to his new surroundings, Oscar recently molted, surprising staff. His old shell is now on display, while he regains strength with a new blue-orange shell expected to form within the next few weeks. Wagner expressed gratitude for Oscar’s new home, hoping for a bright future for the unique lobster.