Freckles, the rare lobster saved from Manassas restaurant, dies at museum
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Freckles, the rare lobster saved from Manassas restaurant, dies at museum
InsideNoVa.com
July 20, 2022, 3:55 PM
Freckles, a 1 in 30 million lobster found at the Manassas Red Lobster last year.
Courtesy Virginia Living Museum
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Freckles, the one in 30 million calico lobster discovered at the Manassas Red Lobster in April 2021, has died at the Virginia Living Museum in Newport News. ... Freckles died Sunday while attempting to shed his exoskeleton, the museum said in a Facebook post.
Like all crustaceans, lobsters must shed their exoskeleton to grow. At Freckles size, this molting requires a significant amount of energy, to the point in which older animals may not survive, the post said. Modifications were made to his enclosure by the aquariums staff, but sadly he was unsuccessful at completing his molt and passed overnight.
Freckles lived at the museum in Newport News after Red Lobster staff spotted something unusual in a shipment of live lobsters to the restaurant on Broken Branch Boulevard off Sudley Road. One of them had a striking orange and black speckled shell. ... Employees named him Freckles and spared him the cooking pot, instead calling in conservation experts.
The University of Maines Lobster Institute estimates the odds of catching a calico lobster are 1 in 30 million, nearly 10,000 times less likely than being struck by lightning, according to Food and Wine magazine.
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This article was written by WTOPs news partner InsideNoVa.com and republished with permission. Sign up for InsideNoVa.coms free email subscription today.