Ripley's Aquarium Just Saved A Rare Lobster From A Grocery Store & It's One In 30 Million
Saved right in a pinch! 🦞
Ripley's Aquarium is officially welcoming a new and incredibly rare crustacean to the family.
The downtown Toronto aquarium shared the good news on Facebook on September 29, introducing the world to the one and only, Pinchy.
"We recently rescued Pinchy, a very rare orange lobster, from a grocery store where some awesome people reached out and let us know they had this 1 in 30 million creature," the post read.
A spokesperson of Ripley's Aquarium of Canada told Narcity that their husbandry team — the group of people that takes care of the animals — collected Pinchy, conducted a thorough physical check, and brought him to the aquarium, where he's getting used to his new home in a pool.
"The lovely people who found Pinchy at the grocery store named him and he definitely fits his name, so we're happy to have Pinchy officially be part of the Ripley's family!" they said.
Niki Lundquist's spouse was one of the store managers who spotted Pinchy at the Durham region grocery store.
"He stood out," Lundquist told Narcity. "And the other lobsters were picking on him."
Lundquist and her spouse had talked about driving Pinchy back to an ocean when a little girl came into the store with her mom and brought up Ripley's.
"We reached [out] to the aquarium and they agreed to take him," Lundquist said.
On the way to the aquarium, they played ocean sounds for the pumpkin-coloured lobster. "We had no idea if [Pinchy] would like it but we're not in the business of rescuing lobsters very often," Lundquist added.
"These orange lobsters are very rare due to a genetic mutation which [gives] them the vivid orange colour that Pinchy has!" the spokesperson for Ripley's Aquarium shared.
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.