Lobsterman Catches Rare Bright Blue Lobster off the Coast of Cape Cod
The lobsterman's wife named the lobster Bleu.
— -- A Massachusetts lobsterman pulled a surprising catch off Cape Cod on Monday when he trapped a bright blue lobster.
Wayne Nickerson, a commercial lobsterman for the past 35 years in Plymouth, Massachusetts, was behind the wheel of his boat, F/V Windsong, when he spotted the lobster in a wire trap.
He immediately called his wife, Jan Nickerson, and told her to meet him at the dock.
“He let out a loud exclamation of excitement,” she told ABC News. “He was very clear about how excited he was.”
The 2-pound lobster, which Jan Nickerson immediately named Bleu, is the second rare blue crustacean Wayne Nickerson has caught. The first time was in 1990, she said.
Oceanographers estimate that just one lobster in 2 million is blue, according to the Lobster Institute at the University of Maine. The coloring comes from an excessive amount of a particular protein produced by a genetic defect.
Jan Nickerson said her husband and his fellow lobstermen immediately separated Bleu from the other lobsters so it wouldn’t get hurt. The rare lobster is now being held in a tank, and the couple hopes to share Bleu with a local aquarium.
“We want people to be able to see him,” Jan Nickerson said.