When a shipment of lobsters arrived at a New York grocery store last month, workers noticed an unusual sight: an orange creature among the brown bunch.
The Stop & Shop in Southampton on Long Island hit the pincer Powerball, because only 1 in 30 million lobsters is naturally orange.
The rare crustacean, later named Clementine, quickly became a celebrity at the store. Initially, the store reached out to the Long Island Aquarium, hoping it would take her in, but the aquarium declined the offer, John Di Leonardo, president and executive director of the animal advocacy group Humane Long Island, said in a news release.
That’s when the Southampton Animal Shelter stepped in, alerting Humane Long Island about Clementine. After it contacted the grocery store, it quickly secured Clementine’s release, and the lobster was returned to sea Tuesday.
“We got ourselves a big saltwater tank to rehab her in, we brought her down to the ocean, and she immediately began foraging,” Di Leonardo told NBC News on Wednesday.
“She was ready to go as soon as she saw the ocean.” Di Leonardo, a passionate animal rights advocate, said lobsters like Clementine deserve to live freely.
“They all want to live natural lives in the wild,” he said. “They don’t want to boil in someone’s pot or stay in a cramped aquarium.”
Di Leonardo described Humane Long Island’s history of rescuing animals from perilous situations, including a wallaby exploited for photo ops on the Coney Island boardwalk and a South American ostrich kept by an unlicensed animal exhibitor.
The organization has also shut down several slaughterhouses.
“We rescued over 200 animals this year, but saving 200 animals is just as easy as not eating them,” Di Leonardo said, encouraging people to go vegan.
“It’s never been easier to keep animals off your plate,” he added. “Now you can get vegan lobster rolls. You can go to the store and get crabless patties that you can microwave.”
An orange lobster named Crush was also spared this year after it was found by a Red Lobster dishwasher.
