Fact or Myth: Blue Lobsters?
Logan Gwynn, a freshman at Lafayette, posing in front of a green screen. Edited on the green screen was a blue lobster.
Do you think blue lobsters are real? Many people have not heard of them, but these unique and rare lobsters are real. We interviewed 92 students and teachers here at Lafayette, and 76% said they don’t think they are real.
We hypothesize that people do not think they are real because they are rare. There is only one in two million; this is like trying to find one person out of the roughly two million people in New Mexico. They are more likely to be found around the Atlantic coast of North America. Blue lobsters are blue due to a genetic abnormality. They cost more than red lobster; some restaurants even have them on the menus for hundreds of dollars. However, red lobsters and blue lobsters have the same taste. When fishermen come across them, they usually toss them back into the ocean, making them rare and more worthy of the higher price.
According to Dr. Micheal Tlusty, the research director at New England Aquarium, when lobsters eat astaxanthin, a carotenoid pigment found in red and pink animals, it makes the shell red. After they eat it, the pigment gets moved up to their shell. This is what happens to all lobsters that are red, but the ones that are blue have the pigments stored in their shells, then proteins grab the pigments and twist them around.
Sadie Meyer, a sophomore, said that she believes blue lobsters are real. She stated, “Because the teacher whose class I am in has seen one. And we just talked about it.” This was her reason as to why she believes blue lobsters do exist.
Dr. McLaughlin, a science teacher at Lafayette, said that she does believe that blue lobsters are real. She stated, “I grew up in New England, and lobster dinners are seven dollars a plate, so we know that blue lobsters are real.”
Brayden Steele, a freshman, thinks there could be blue lobsters. He said he doesn’t know if they are real, but with all the different sea creatures discovered, he thinks it wouldn’t be impossible for a blue lobster to exist.
Even though blue lobsters are rare and blue, they are still edible. However, they are very expensive. Blue lobsters may be rare and hard to get, but they are unique creatures that should be protected.
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