Rare blue lobster moves to 'forever home'

ROTTERDAM, N.Y. (NEWS10) – The family that rescued a blue lobster from a local grocery store got to see that lobster settle into its new home on Tuesday. Via Port Rotterdam invited the family and NEWS10 over for the special event.

In early September, Danielle Morales took her sons to their local Market32 in Clifton Park. That’s when her sons Parker and Zachary spotted a blue lobster. They notified Via Port Aquarium.

Market32 donated the lobster to the aquarium. On Tuesday, Morales brought her boys to Via Port Rotterdam where they were greeted by General Manager Tom Lavin.

Lavin said they promised the boys to name it Bluey if it was a girl and Bandit if it was a boy – after the show Bluey. They named him Bandit.

When asked how it felt to save Bandit’s life, Parker exclaimed “Good!” “It was exciting. I don’t know anything about lobsters or any of the details that go into it,” said Morales. 

Someone who does know about lobsters? Roland Mick, who is the senior aquarist at Via Port. He said it’s standard procedure to quarantine new animals.

“The lobster was in there for about a month. He showed no signs of disease,” said Mick.

He and caretakers from the biology team moved Bandit from his quarantine location, behind the scenes to his new exhibit where he can be found… “In his forever home,” said Parker.

“It’s exciting to be a part of the journey and to see behind the curtain of all the magic they do here,” said Morales.

Mick said with Bandit eating more shrimp and with more molting, the process they go through to shed their exoskeleton, his color could become more vibrant. 

“Parker‘s been drawing pictures of the lobster since the first time we saw it, he brought Tom a couple of pictures today for bandit,” said Morales

Moving day can be stressful enough. but for a lobster it’s a fight for his territory. Bandit’s getting acquainted with his pesky neighbors.

“The reason why you might see colorful lobsters in aquariums is because orange lobsters, like we have right here, are so bright that predators can find them out in the wild and they become an easy target. So it’s almost better for us to take them out of the wild and then raise awareness for lobsters and their mutations and how cool they are,” said Mick.

Now Bandit is on display in his new home for all to see at Via Port Rotterdam.