What Makes Lobsters Turn Red?
When a lobster is taken out of the lobster trap with which the fisherman traps him, he is green, but when he comes to the table as a choice morsel of food his shell is red. We know that he has been boiled and we know that he goes into the boiling water green and comes out red. This change in the color of the shell of the lobster is the result of the effect of boiling water on the coloring material in the shell. When the lobster is put in the boiling water the process of boiling produces a chemical change in the color material in the lobster’s shell. There is no particular reason why the lobster should turn red, excepting that that is the effect boiling water has on the coloring matter in the shell.