Red Lobster dishwasher rescues ‘one-in-30 million’ orange lobster

A Red Lobster in Colorado has spared the life of a rare lobster it found by handing it off to a local aquarium.

After a dishwasher named Jose Romero at a Red Lobster in Pueblo, Colorado, discovered a rare orange lobster while unpacking a shipment Friday, July 12, the staff named the crustacean “Crush” in honor of the Denver Bronco’s legendary Orange Crush defense, read a press release obtained by TODAY.com.

“The first thought that went through his head was that he’s seen a blue lobster before, which was different, but he’s never seen an orange one,” Romero, who has worked at the Pueblo Red Lobster for 12 years, told the Pueblo Chieftain.

Staffers have since found Crush a new home at Denver’s Downtown Aquarium, the release said. Crush moved in July 17, the release added.

Ryan Herman, general curator at Denver’s Downtown Aquarium, said in the release, “We are thrilled to be able to share this very rare and extraordinary animal with the community and visitors to Colorado.”

Orange lobsters are one in 30 million, the release added. Its color stems “from a genetic mutation,” which “affects and prevents encoded proteins,” said the aquarium. Without one or several proteins, lobsters can be different colors, such as blue, yellow and orange.

Red Lobster workers have stumbled across several uniquely colored lobsters in recent years and have relocated them to various places.

In 2020, a worker in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, found Clawdia the crustacean and sent the blue lobster to a zoo in Akron, Ohio.

In July 2022, staffers at a Hollywood, Florida, location found an orange lobster, affectionally named Cheddar, and placed it in Ripley’s Aquarium of Myrtle Beach, Yahoo reported.

About a month later, in August 2022, workers at a Meridian, Mississippi, location came across another orange lobster, named it Biscuit and arranged its placement at Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies in Gatlinburg, Tennesee, Yahoo reported.