A restaurant in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, recently shared photos of a brilliantly blue lobster that was caught in the Atlantic Ocean earlier this month.
Facebook photos shared by Arnold's Lobster & Clam Bar show owner Nathan Nickerson III admiring the rare creature.
“Well looky here — a BLUE lobster! (Only 1 in every 2 million is blue!) This was brought into us after being caught in the Atlantic. Stop in to see it in person!” the post’s caption reads.
Arnold’s still hasn’t decided whether it will be releasing the lobster back into the ocean or donating it to an aquarium.
According to the University of Maine’s Lobster Institute, Nickerson knows his crustaceans: an estimated one in 2 million lobsters is blue.
“The coloration comes from a genetic defect that causes the lobster to produce an excessive amount of a particular protein that gives the lobster that unique coloration. They’re still lobsters, but they stand out because they’re different. And because that difference is rare and startling, among those who understand and appreciate the difference, they’re more valued!” the Institute explained in a fact sheet.
Most of us think of lobsters as being red. However, according to the Institute, lobsters are typically blue-green or brown in color in the ocean, only turning bright red when cooked. So, even more rare than blue lobsters are live red, albino and yellow lobsters as well as calico-patterned and split-color ones.
The albino lobster is the rarest of all.
“The odds of finding an albino lobster are one in 100 million lobsters. Yet, people do find them. One in 100 million. That’s a long way from the one in 2 million blue lobsters that appear in nature,” the Institute explains.
