A Red Lobster in Virginia now has its very own mascot.
Yes, a lobster, of course. But not just any lobster. This one, named Freckles, was spared from a pot of boiling water at a Manassas location when a restaurant worker spotted the 1-in-30 million “calico” crustacean.
Freckles’ vivid golden spots caught their eye, although its muddled variation with a lobster’s more typical brown color can make calicos tough to pick out from a group. However, this critter made a real splash in the kitchen — but mercifully, not into the pot.
“Calico-colored lobsters like Freckles are so rare, it was almost unbelievable that we received one!” a Red Lobster spokesperson told Food & Wine this week. “We are so proud of our employees for recognizing that Freckles was so special — and for reaching out so we could make arrangements for rescue.”
Red Lobster confirmed that the decapod has since been delivered to the Virginia Living Museum in Newport News, where it will live out its days with other marvels of nature.
The spokesperson also thanked the Akron Zoo for helping them find a home for Freckles. Last year, the Ohio zoo took in a rare blue lobster, dubbed Clawde, also rescued from a Red Lobster dining room.
“We appreciate the help of our friends at the Akron Zoo, who made the connection to the Virginia Living Museum, where Freckles is now in quarantine before joining the lobster display,” the company added in their statement. “We hope Freckles brings lots of joy to guests of the museum and lives a long and wonderful life.”
While ostensibly easier to pluck from a pile, blue lobsters are also more commonly found than the calico, with a rate of about 1 per 2 million.
Other standouts include bright orange lobsters (1 in a million) and two-toned types (1 in 50 million).
The only variety more rare is the albino, or “ghost” lobster, whose odds of being spotted out of water are about 1 in 100 million, according to the University of Maine’s Lobster Institute.