Cheddar, the orange lobster discovered at a Red Lobster restaurant in Hollywood, Florida, has clawed his way into headlines yet again this month. For those unfamiliar with the harrowing story, earlier this month, Red Lobster employees spotted the orange-hued crustacean and gifted the lobster with its biscuit-inspired name, Cheddar. From there, he was sent to his new home at the Ripley’s Aquarium in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
Just days after Cheddar had the chance to cozy up to its new digs, PETA released a statement that the rare lobster be taken away from a possible "life of deprivation" and returned to the ocean.
"Most lobsters turn a bright reddish hue after they’ve been plunged into boiling water and died in agony, but Cheddar is ruddy by nature, and she deserves to be returned to her ocean home instead of sentenced to a life of deprivation in an aquarium tank," PETA announced in the statement emailed to Delish. "Lobsters are individuals who use complicated signals to explore their surroundings and journey 100 miles or more each year—and PETA encourages everyone to honor every lobster and other sea life by choosing to eat fish-free fillets, faux lobster, crabless cakes, and other vegan vittles."
But according to a press release from Red Lobster, Cheddar's unique color actually makes the lobster a target for ocean predators.
"Cheddar will be forever protected in the safety of her new habitat at Ripley’s. Orange lobsters like Cheddar are extremely rare – one-in-30 million – because their bright, unusual coloring makes them very attractive to predators," read the press release.
Ripley's Aquarium has yet to respond to PETA's request.
