Thanks to a genetic defect, one lucky lobster has been spared the boiling pot.
A father and son fishing off Peaks Island in Casco Bay on Thursday morning hauled in a rare blue lobster, according to the Portland Press Herald.
That bright blue crustacean was an immediate head-turner when the duo brought it to a dealer at the Custom House Wharf in Portland, the Press Herald reported.
Rather than becoming a meal, the lobster will be fed a diet of fish before eventually moving into its new home in a tank at Becky’s Diner on Commercial Street, where they hope the lobster will entertain diners, according to the newspaper.
The blue color is caused by a genetic defect, and occurs only once in every 2 million lobsters.
As unusual a sight as it is, blue lobsters are far from the most rare variety lurking off the coast. Calico lobsters occur about once in every 30 million lobsters, half red lobsters occur only once in every 50 million and, perhaps the most rare, ghost lobsters occur only once in every 100 million.
