Rare yellow lobster caught !

[Jesse Joe]

Rare yellow lobster caught

Published Tuesday October 7th, 2008

Genetic defects sometimes cause lobsters to develop different coloured shells

BY ALAN COCHRANE
TIMES & TRANSCRIPT STAFF



A yellow lobster pulled from the chilly waters of the Northumberland Strait over the weekend is definitely very rare and a "curiosity of nature," a lobster specialist with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans said yesterday.





photo contributed

Danny Knockwood displays a yellow lobster beside a normal coloured one. Danny pulled this crustacean from the waters off Richibucto Village.


"It's definitely rare, about one in 10 million that you see one like that," DFO scientist Marc Lanteigne of Moncton said after reviewing photos and video of the lobster, which was brought to the surface by fisherman Danny Knockwood of the Elsipogtog First Nation on Sunday. "It's strange but really not that unusual."
Last year, a pair of fishermen from Harpswell, Maine, made headlines when they found a couple of similar-looking yellow lobsters. Similar finds have been reported in New Hampshire.
Knockwood said he found the rare yellow lobster in one of the traps brought to the surface near Richibuctou Village on Sunday.
"We were taking our traps out at the end of the season. It's been pretty rough out there. And it was calm on Sunday so we went out to pick up the traps."
When he first pulled the yellow lobster out of the trap, he thought it was dead so they threw it in with the others. It wasn't until they got back to shore that they had a chance to examine it more closely."
Lobsters are normally a dark green colour with yellow spots, but this one was more of a greenish yellow with green-black claws. Lobsters are sometimes found to be blue, red and bright orange.
Its underbelly was yellow to white. Knockwood took photos and video of the lobster and posted a video of it on YouTube.
After examining the photo and video, Lanteigne confirmed it as a so-called "calico lobster" which has developed a different colour in its shell due to a genetic defect. He said it was likely a female lobster about nine or 10 years old and described as a canner size.
Knockwood said he isn't sure what he will do with the yellow lobster, but for now they have named it Autumn.
"Maybe we'll donate it to science so everybody can see it."
The Northumberland Strait between New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island has been a valuable lobster fishing ground for decades.
Lanteigne said surveys indicate catches have improved this year after a slump in recent seasons, thanks to an influx of smaller lobsters.
He said scientists aren't sure what caused the peak in the mid-1980s but they believe it is linked to weather patterns, when winds forced the smaller larvae into shallower waters closer to shore where they stood a better chance of survival.

[Jesse Joe]

YouTube - Elsipogtog Yellow Lobster

[geodeticman.5]

geo's thoughts on Yellow Lobsters, and GL's most likely, maybe, answers:

James Cagney has seen this Yellow Lobster in his lifetime.

He'd spent over 50 years of his life checking the pots and

traps, only to see the taunting little bas**rd thumbing his

...proboscis at him, an and split. They say he's a coward

(the lobster). And Cagney became obsessive over this ONE

lobster. It was his nemessis, and yet his friend as well.

It has been said by decorated, esteemed and Generally Thought

of as Important, BUT NO ONE KNOWS WHY- Comparitive Literature

(post industrial) Professors' Laureate that Cagney's Yellow

Lobster, Lightfoot's Canary Yellow Canoe, and Welles'

"Rosebud" - perenially leaning: Alone. Cold. In the Dark. In

the Rain. So depressed, Welle's has not had his Rosebud

sled's runners filed-over in years. Bereft. Down trodden.

Vaccuous of anything imminent. At least, thats how Hemingway

saw it; himself, alone. Cold. In the dark. In the rain.



And still, sitting up in bed , covered in an absurd white

Egyptian Cotton sleep suit made by the Great Pacific Tent

Works , with the effite little tassles sleep cap, Welle's

(Kane) would sit up in bed, and bemoan his lost, but not

forgotten dearly beloved childhod symbol of those halcyion,

carefree summer days of no amortization and depreciation:

Rosebud. Of course, in the Monumental Statement made by

Citizen Kane, those halcyion summer days were never shown;

but year-round Rosebud remained calling out to him to go

sledding, in the snow of course. In the cold. In the dark.

B&W - self-conscious imagery for making a statement,

cinematographically, that is; in the end, Cagney was, indeed,

a coward himself. All the while, sitting in prison stripes,

saying to a long hallway (its hard to be poignant when you

are portrayed as alone): "I say you're a coward, see, you

Lilly-livered Yellow crustacean, You're yellow, I tell ya',

see. Through and through... The yellow lobster was HIS

Rosebud, Lightfoot's canoe was his Rosebud, just as Citizen

Kane's (is anyone catching this Or_son_Well_ian) Orwellian

sled was HIS Rosebud. We all have our metaphorical Rosebuds

somehow. Cold. Alone. And in the dark. Such were what the

self-conscious suffering great artiste's doomed to go through

at some point, as defined by Hemmingway. In the Dark. In the

Cold. Alone. In the Rain. The need: for all, their own, but

symbolized by Welle's Rosebud. Except Cagney, who's:

Rosebud's Rosebud was The Yellow Lobster, Who WAS Alone. In

the Cold Water. In the Dark.

- exc. from: The Great 20th Century Novel (yet to be

written, but under contract): The "Yellow Lobster; Freak

of Nature, or Allegorical Symbol of a mis-spent youth;

Regrets; Alone, in the Dark, Col, In the Rain ?"

------GL clears up all the bullsh**, he's been on the town:

But as the Great Northern Waters Aventurer,Kayaker,

Canoeist, and Trekker: Lightfoot said of the idiomatic, "did

his best writing as an author when he was using a 35 cent Big

Chief Tablet"- Hemingway- "Listen , Bro, don't you hate that

Moose-scat when some self-appointed biographer, write's your

"catch-phrase & riff': He can have his "standing in the cold.

Dark, Alone sh**, I'm going CANOEING ! (cue the electric

guitar riffs !) yEAH ! (Mountain Dew Moment)

Yee-haw ! Yellow Rocks ! What color does everone want their

new Nissan SUV with the 1st-aid kit built into the back-end

tailgate panel ? Yellow. All with the requisite colour trim

and gaskets, and seals around doors, etc: Black, on a yellow

body, because:

(true story) after The success of the Sony Weatherproof

Walkman over 15 years ago: Yellow plastic case, and heavy

black visible trim, gaskets, and jack-inlet portholes plugged

all up with Black rubber custom plugs; these two colors, with

yellow predominant, came to mean to the consumer:

weatherproof and water-tight, Alone, In the Col..... . So 15

years later,in a "guide yelow" gore-text coat, a "Guide

Yellow "Vector Equilibium tent, a Yellow 4wd vehicle with

black trim that wants to portay warm and dry inside, and- of

course - any CD-player or etc, to make it at least appear to

be the outdoors version of the radio, the camera, the Nano.

make it Yellow ! (With black rubber gaskets anywhere, for no

apparent reason).

cool video Jesse Joe. They must get cold, dark, and lonely up

there. don't they ? Just give'em some yellow ! anything ! lol

[Nightingale]

Nightingale's thoughts on the calico lobster.....

Let her go home and leave her alone.

[Jesse Joe]

Rare lobster saved from pot


Published Thursday October 9th, 2008

Fisherman donates Autumn to N.B. aquarium even though YouTube viewers say 'eat it'

BY ALAN COCHRANE
TIMES & TRANSCRIPT STAFF

An extremely rare yellow lobster caught in the Northumberland Strait near Richibucto Village last weekend will escape the cooking pot and find a new home at the Marine Centre Aquarium in Shippagan.

This yellow lobster was caught in the Northumberland Strait near Richibucto Village by fishermen from Elsipogtog.

Fisherman Danny Knockwood of the Elsipogtog First Nation said yesterday he has been in contact with the aquarium, which is operated by the provincial government as a tourist attraction and education centre.
Curator Aurele Godin said he'd be happy to add Autumn to his collection of rare lobsters.
"In captivity, the lobster could live for many years," Godin said yesterday. "And I've got many other coloured ones -- blue ones, yellow ones, orange and blacks. Every year fishermen come up with them. They call me and I go pick them up."
Knockwood found the yellow lobster -- which he named Autumn -- while pulling his traps from the Northumberland Strait at the end of the season. Regular lobsters are normally a dark green colour with dark spots but Autumn has a distinct yellow colour on top and is nearly white on the bottom.
A specialist from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans who examined photos and a video of the crustacean told the Times & Transcript that odd-coloured lobsters are rare but not uncommon. He said genetic defects sometimes cause a lobster's shell to develop a different colour. There have been reports over the years of blue, dark red, white and even yellow lobsters. The specialist said the different colour would have no bearing on its overall health or taste if it was cooked. Autumn is a female lobster and estimated to be nine or 10 years old. The DFO scientist pegged the odds of a yellow lobster as one in 10 million.
Shortly after catching the lobster, Knockwood photographed it and put a video on the YouTube. As of yesterday, the video had been viewed over 500 times and there were seven comments from viewers, most of whom suggested that he simply 'eat it.'
Knockwood said he didn't want to eat Autumn and would rather donate her to the aquarium where she can be seen. As of yesterday afternoon, Autumn was being kept in an underwater cage near Knockwood's home.
The aquarium and museum focuses on New Brunswick's fishing industry with exhibits of gear, equipment and boats. The fish on display are enclosed in aquariums that use real seawater.
Besides fish and the collection of odd lobsters, the aquarium also has a large tank with harbour seals.
Godin said the aquarium is a popular attraction for the area and draws up to 40,000 visitors a year from all over Canada and tourists from around the world.

[BILLW]

Yellow ? Butter is yellow, eh ? OK, OK just leave him be. I'll just have the rice thanks !

Bill

[geodeticman.5]

He'll be in the cold... but not in the dark ! but in the cold...
- but with his friends ! And no rain.... I think it sounds..nice.

Actually - that is a cool pic find Jesse, and story. It DID make me think of CYC !

[Jesse Joe]

Thanks for the kind words Geo Steve my good man.

CYC ? I should know this, but it doesn't come to mind right now.

[Jesse Joe]

Oh "CYC"... Canary Yellow Canoe, is that it ?