Mass. lobsterman finds Halloween-themed catch

The New England Aquarium said a Salem lobsterman dropped off this oddly colored lobster after catching it in one of his traps. / WBZ/New England Aquarium

BOSTONA lobster caught off the Massachusetts coast has avoided fate in the boiler pot because his highly unusual and seasonal black and orange coloring.

CBS Boston affiliate WBZ reports that Dana Duhaime, a lobsterman from Salem, caught the lobster just in time for Halloween (or even for San Francisco's World Series win) in his traps off Bakers Channel. He named the female, one-pound lobster "Pinchy," after the giant lobster who appears in a Simpsons TV episode.

Pinchy has an orange side and a black side, to the New England Aquarium. Bill Murphy, an aquarium biologist, picked up the crustacean on Sunday, Aquarium officials told WBZ.

The New England Aquarium says that 2012 has been an exception year for discovering strangely colored lobsters, from yellows to blues to calicos.

Pinchy's coloring is known as a "split," which are even more bizarre because they feature two distinct colors on each side. Split lobsters are roughly estimated to occur once in every 50 to 100 million lobsters.

WBZ reports that after a quarantine period, the lobster will either be on exhibit in one of the aquarium's habitat tanks or used for live animal presentations, the aquarium said.

• Man frees 17-pound lobster from Conn. restaurant

[msimamaji]

How neat!!!

But let me give lobstermen everywhere a fair warning.

Oceans are becoming more acidic because we keep dumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The oceans abosrb most of the carbon dioxide and turn it into carbonic acid.(Text book chemistry.)

If the permafrost in Siberia starts to melt and the methane trapped inside permafrost escapes, then we're in big trouble. Methane is a far more dangerous greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.

Acidic oceans spell certain death to lobsters, so the entire fishing industry will get wiped out.

If lobstermen want to save their jobs, they need to re-hire Obama and fire the entire lyin'-Ryan, Shifty-Mitty GOP.

[mcrich3]

I keep looking for a report on how the president's adminstration left 4 people to die in Bengazi and I find this article about a fake lobster.

Why can't CBS news do a real story on this crime.

[Ulgnud]

Looks to me like someone had some masking tape and a rattle-can of black paint.

[Bunny_Matthews]

Or used two different lobsters taking the photo in exactly the same position as the previous photo. Then added half of the other lobster using editing software...

[dj_chi]

Anyone remember that original series Star Trek episode with the guys who're half black half white? Yeah, they want their pet back.

[Morvin]

Somebody's got their calendar mixed up. Today is October 31st, not April 1st.

[Morvin]

Somebody's got their calendar mixed up. Today is October 31st, not April 1st.

[Necroscope84]

Yay, at least Pinchy will be safe now from Red Lobster :)

[matthews1966]

Pinchy was out trick or treating and was caught. Mybe he mama is out looking for him. Poor little pinchy. Maybe he's not even a real lobster but a fish dressed as a lobster now thinking he's a real lobster. OHHH VAAAYYY.

[travelers345]

I think the photo is a fake, even though it isn't. It's a sign of the times, even though it is meaningless. Oh my, I'm not so sure anymore.