When A Worker At Red Lobster Unloaded A Delivery, She Discovered A Rare Creature

Picture this: it’s a warm, sunny day in Ohio. You’re working at Red Lobster unloading the day’s fresh catch. You open a crate to check the product, and that’s when you notice something odd. Actually, it’s more than just a little odd. It's something totally bizarre that you’ve never seen before — and you have to ask yourself whether you're looking at a real animal, or just some kind of practical joke.

Where the seafood comes from

The Red Lobster restaurant in question is in Ohio’s Cuyahoga Falls. That’s around seven hours by car from New York City and 40 minutes north of Cleveland. But despite being minutes from Lake Eerie, Red Lobster’s seafood is not typically found in that body of water, as employee Lora Jones knew all too well.

Fresh delivery

For the most part, the restaurant ships its main ingredients in from both ocean catches and farm-raised stock. And on that July day, the consignment drop-off was, as usual, delivered by air. You see, this form of transport cuts the travel time significantly compared to road routes, and it ensures the eatery’s ingredients are as fresh as possible, which is good to know!

A rather unusual catch

But when that day’s air shipment arrived, staff member, Lora, found something wasn’t quite right. She cracked open a crate, as she typically would, but this time she spotted an oddity among the usual fare. Jones then showed her colleagues what she had found, and none of them could believe their eyes.

Not on the menu

One thing all the employees knew for sure, though, was that this thing wasn’t going onto the menu. That’s because what they found lurking in the shipment was actually an incredibly rare discovery. But what makes this even more surprising is that Red Lobster goes to great lengths to prove where its ingredients come from.

Red Lobster's statement

The company writes on its website, “We support and follow regulatory efforts that manage fish populations and mandate our suppliers comply with all applicable laws.” To achieve this, Red Lobster abides by regulations set out by the Total Allowable Catch organization, which monitors fish populations and manages fishing quotas.

700 locations

Today, Red Lobster is a chain seafood restaurant with more than 700 sites across the United States, but its beginnings were more humble. The company was founded in 1968 by Bill Darden, who opened a lone eatery with the help of his family in Lakeland, Florida. And the restaurant was to specialize in his favorite cuisine: seafood.

Making lobster accessible

According to the company’s website, Darden believed that everyone in the U.S. should be able to enjoy the best quality seafood – however far they’re located from the coast. Then, just two years later, his restaurant caught the attention of food conglomerate General Mills. With the company’s investment behind it, Red Lobster went on to open new locations across the country.

Huge success

Red Lobster’s menu evolved throughout the ’70s and proved a hit with customers nationwide. The restaurant chain’s popularity surged at the end of the decade after numerous famous advertising drives. On the back of that success, Red Lobster was able to establish a site in Canada in 1983 and went on to devise themed promotional events – such as the now-traditional Valentine’s Day Lobsterfest.

World's largest seafood chain

These days, Red Lobster operates sites in 11 countries – including Qatar, China, Japan, and Ecuador. Its website adds that the company hires 58,000 staff and is the world’s biggest seafood restaurant. Not only that, but the firm also has plans to expand further.

Ethical sourcing

Yet, despite this global expansion, the seafood restaurant chain claims that it knows where every piece of seafood it has served has come from since its inception in 1968. Red Lobster also says it apparently avoids catching at-risk sea life. The staff at Cuyahoga Falls might disagree with that…

A wide array of dishes

Like most restaurants, Red Lobster’s range of food covers main courses, appetizers, soups, salads, sides, and desserts. The eatery serves lunch as well as dinner, and it offers an array of party platters, family deals, and kids’ selections. But in addition to the expected aquatic fare, the restaurant chain also throws a few culinary curveballs.

Straight from the ocean

A typical fish dish might consist of salmon caught fresh that day from New Orleans or the Atlantic Ocean. The catfish option, meanwhile, is raised on a farm. And there’s plenty of choice for kids too: golden-fried fish, popcorn shrimp, chicken fingers, or macaroni and cheese.

Seafood shortages

If you really want the full Red Lobster experience, though, it’s got to be a combo. Take your pick from lobster, shrimp, crab, scallops, clams, salmon, and mussels. But all these options and the company’s millions of customers a year puts a huge strain on fish populations. And the survival of certain species is a growing concern.

Ongoing commitment

As Red Lobster says on its website, “Traceable. Sustainable. Responsible. These are more than just words on our menu – it’s our promise that all of the seafood we serve is sourced to the highest standards. Because, as one of the world’s largest seafood purchasers, we believe it’s our responsibility to protect and preserve our oceans and marine life for generations to come.”

Ensuring quality

Red Lobster says that it vets its long-term suppliers in person before entering into a partnership with them — no matter where in the world they are based. Naturally, this helps the company considerably in knowing exactly where the fish that arrives in its restaurants comes from. The chain can also aims to guarantee that the delivered product is of the highest quality.

Complying with regulations

The seafood restaurant claims that its suppliers comply with sustainability guidelines within the fishing industry. And these standards are regulated by official bodies such as the Global Sustainable Seafood Initiative. Red Lobster is even a founding member of the Global Aquaculture Alliance, and it helped formulate the Best Aquaculture Practices certification.

Slipped through the cracks

Not only that, but Red Lobster says that regulations set by the Aquaculture Improvement Projects and its fisheries equivalent are also adhered to in order to keep fish supplies plentiful. So just how did an incredibly rare creature make it to Ohio?

A lobster unlike the rest

You see, what worker Lora Jones had found in the shipment of ingredients was a blue lobster. General manager Michelle Falconer told Today in July 2020, “At first the lobster just looked a little off. But when we put her in our tank, she was this beautiful, brilliant color.”

Looked like a fake?

Naturally, the distinctive blue hue stood out from the other lobsters in the delivery. The staff even sent pictures of the find to colleagues who weren’t around at the time. Anthony Stein – who is a culinary manager at the Cuyahoga Falls establishment – told NPR that same month, “At first [in the picture] it looked like it was fake.”

One rare variety

Unbelievably, the lobster that the workers had discovered was of the common American variety. The species is usually a familiar red color, but this one was different. As Stein observed, “It’s definitely something marvelous to look at.”

Clawde's fate

The workers were certainly taken by the unusual-looking creature, and they named it Clawde in honor of Red Lobster’s mascot. But if the creature wasn’t to become one of the restaurant’s delicacies, what would its fate be? Well, employees soon began ringing their contacts to work out what should happen next.

Kept him safe

At first, staffers apparently made the lobster feel comfortable. Server Angie Helbig explained to NPR, “We kept [it] in the tank and just made sure that nobody took him in the back for dinner.” But they knew Clawde couldn’t stay there forever…

A new home for Clawde

So while Clawde was hanging out with other crustaceans, management at the eatery got in touch with the corporate office. After flicking through their little black book, they contacted the Seafood Watch Program at the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California.

Escaping a bleaker fate

Both Red Lobster and Ohio’s very own Akron Zoo are members of the Seafood Watch Program. And it was this establishment that was nominated as Clawde’s new home. Days later, the blue crustacean was transported to the zoo’s aquarium where staff had prepared a tank for the lobster. And by all appearances, the creature settled in well.

Handled with care

Kathleen Balogh, the manager of Akron Zoo Animal Care, explained to NPR, “[Staff] sprung into action. [They] prepared a suitable area and made a cage so the lobster would feel comfortable.” She then drove to Cuyahoga Falls with a co-worker and a large cooler filled with cold saltwater to collect the zoo’s newest addition.

Clean bill of health

And of course, having traveled so far, Clawde was in need of a check-up, so vets performed tests on the blue lobster upon its arrival. Balogh told the publication, “There is a little bit of wear and tear from its journey,” but the crustacean was otherwise in good shape. However, the zoo made another interesting discovery: the lobster was actually female.

Renamed Clawdia

Clawdia – as she was renamed to reflect her gender – is truly an incredibly rare find. In fact, it’s widely agreed that there’s as little as a one-in-two-million chance of coming across such a lobster. It’s a statistic that’s supported by the University of Maine Lobster Institute, even though its former director Robert Bayer told the BBC that this figure is just a guess.

What are the chances?

Bayer told the BBC in May 2016, “The chances of this happening nobody really knows.” His comments, meanwhile, relate to a couple of fishermen in Canada who found two blue lobsters within days of each other off the U.S. Atlantic Coast.

One in two million

However, Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter of the University of Cambridge in the U.K. believes that the guesswork may be accurate. Rough estimates suggest that 200 million lobsters are fished in the North Atlantic annually, according to the BBC. Therefore, if the one-in-two-million guess is correct, then only 100 of the crustaceans would be blue.

Something special

Spiegelhalter told the BBC, “… For two [blue] lobsters to be caught three days apart – quite close to each other – does not seem at all surprising. I would imagine it happens most years.” Nevertheless, one in every two million lobsters is still a pretty long shot, so Akron Zoo is treating its new inhabitant with care.

Why blue?

But just what is it that makes a lobster blue? The genetic mutation that creates the abnormality causes increased production of a particular protein, which apparently creates the blue coloring. Charlie Ellis – who works as a research assistant at the National Lobster Hatchery in the U.K. – described lobster colors to the BBC. He said, “The American lobster is usually a sort of greeny brown, so anything bright blue would look very odd to fishermen there.”

More common in Europe

Ellis continued, “... European lobsters tend to be a duller blue color. The real sort of iridescent blue is still rare here, but the difference is that, to a European fisherman, it will seem less completely out of the ordinary than it would seem to a North American.” Regardless of how infrequently they’re seen, though, other colored lobsters are even rarer.

Albino lobster

For instance, the yellow variety makes up around one in 30 million of total stocks, according to the Lobster Institute. And the albino lobster is an even rarer find. The BBC added that the chances of discovering one of those are around one in 100 million!

Most beautiful

Bayer went on, “Whatever the odds of catching different-colored lobsters, there’s no denying that bright blue ones are truly beautiful creatures. They might not be the most unusual, but they are undoubtedly the best to look at.” Indeed, it is the hope of Akron Zoo that Clawdia will eventually make it into a display for the public.

Right at home

Vincent Jeffries is Akron Zoo’s director of marketing and public relations. He told Today, “Shortly after we introduced Clawdia to her aquarium, she started moving rocks around to create her own cave. That was a good sign, it means she’s doing well.” However, she must shed her shell in the fall in order to continue growing.

Reunited with other lobsters

Clawdia is actually in isolation at the time of writing; it’s Akron’s policy to quarantine new arrivals for around three months due to safety. Eventually, she will be housed alongside other lobsters. Although she will have her own tank due to her variety’s preference for a cold-water habitat.

Sponsor Clawdia

Akron is also reportedly offering limited numbers of sponsorship packages to raise funds for the lobster’s care. For $50, fans will receive an adoption certificate, a picture of Clawdia, a lobster plushy – in blue, of course – and a list of facts about the creature. The donations will pay for medical bills, food, and care for her habitat. However, Clawdia wasn't the last strange crustacean that Red Lobster would come across.

Claws of another color

A couple of years later, in 2022, a location in Hollywood, Florida cracked open a crate only to find an orange lobster. You might think these are close to their red brethren, but they are extremely hard to find. Only about one in 30 million comes in this vibrant hue! Not unlike Clawdia, this little critter was too cool to eat...

Get that Cheddar

Nicknamed Cheddar, the sea creature was whisked away to Ripley’s Aquarium of Myrtle Beach, which would become its new home. Going from a meal to a celebrity in just a few days — that's not too bad for a wild animal, is it now? We can only hope there are even more colorful lobsters out there, waiting to be found!