Stunning And Rare Bright Blue Lobster Is Caught In Fisherman's Net

This lobster is even rarer than one in a million.

Elana

• Published in Animal Stories
• September 9, 2021

There are different ways a creature in the animal kingdom can be rare. For example, capturing images by chance of animals like the Red and Black Cross Fox, or capturing images of a rare animal like a Black Leopard.

Other times, rare is taken to extremes, as is what happened recently off the Cornish coast when fisherman Tom Lambourn pulled his lobster traps up to discover a vibrant blue lobster mingled in with the ordinary lobsters. This is not an exaggeration, the bright blue color of this lobster was equally stunning and extraordinarily rare.

According to the National Lobster Hatchery, this lobster is believed to be one in two million!

How does something like a bright blue, one in two million, lobster happen naturally?

Like many extraordinary occurrences in the animal kingdom, this "color morph," of the lobster is caused by a genetic mutation. Additionally, this super-special lobster will maintain this unbelievable color through all his years of molting!

LobsterAnywhere wrote on their website:

“Blue lobsters are, in fact, the result of a single mutation of one piece of the SNA. This mutation causes an overproduction of a particular protein. This results in the bright blue pigment, rather than the typical mix of pigments that give the typical greenish-brown.”

Anywhere lobsters live, the occasional blue one has been spotted, not excluding the United Kingdom or the United States!

Lobsters come in a variety of naturally ocurring colors to begin with including yellow, orange, calico and even “cotton candy.”

This one in a million, cotton candy lobster was discovered by lobsterman Robinson Russell.

Under the sea, a lobster's typical coloring is more of a greenish-brown and this helps the creature evade predators.

Naturally, this means that a vibrantly colored lobster is more vulnerable. However, even brightly colored lobsters aren't an "easy" meal, they have hard exoskeletons and strong claws that are perfect for ocean-life defense.

Lambourn's spotting of the rare lobster was even cooler because it was only his second season fishing off the coastal town of Penzance

He was excited for his discovery and the National Lobster Hatchery was excited to share! Even cooler, to celebrate, other lobster fanatics began sharing photos of their rare blue lobster finds!

NLH said: "The lobster was too small to bring in to land so was popped back in the sea so it can keep growing!"

Could you imagine spotting a vibrantly blue lobster with your own eyes??

Elana