1 in 2 Million Catch: Restaurant Receives Rare Blue Lobster
The odds of finding a four-leaf clover are about 10,000 to one. Similarly, the odds of getting a hole-in-one while playing golf are about 12,500 to one.
There is just something fascinating about those rare finds or experiences — like uncovering a hidden treasure in the world.
On June 8, a seafood restaurant in Eastham, Massachusetts, found an unexpected treasure of their own.
Arnold’s Lobster & Clam Bar received an shipment of lobsters that had just been caught in the Atlantic Ocean. Owner Nathan Nickerson III then noticed something he couldn’t believe – a bright burst of blue in the sea of red crustaceans.
“I said, ‘I think we have something special here.’ I couldn’t believe the color,” Nickerson told CNN.
“Everyone was circling around it, just wondering, ‘How did this happen?'”
The lobster was quickly nicknamed “Little Blue,” and has garnered people’s attention nationwide.
The restaurant shared all about the find on their Facebook page, where they were quick to assure everyone that Little Blue would not be eaten.
Instead, the restaurant left him on display in a tank for about a week before donating him to the St. Louis Aquarium at Union Station.
St. Louis’ hockey team — the “St. Louis Blues” — won the 2019 Stanley Cup, so Little Blue’s new home is “fitting,” according to Arnold’s Lobster & Clam Bar.
“I’d like to give the blue lobster to the St. Louis aquarium out of respect to the St. Louis Blues, who won the championship, to show that Bruins fans have class,” Nickerson said.
While many people had hoped that the lobster would be released back into the wild, Nickerson told CNN that he didn’t think it would be feasible for a lobster to stay alive in the waters of Cape Cod. Along the sandy bottom are thousands of lobster traps that would likely recapture Little Blue.
Life in an aquarium will help Little Blue stay safe, and hopefully inspire people to have a greater appreciation for marine life.
“I want the children to see … (and) be interested in marine life and this is one way to get them excited about it,” Nickerson said. “Maybe one can become the next marine biologist.”
According to the University of Maine’s Lobster Institute, 1 out of every 2 million lobsters is blue.
In the wild, lobsters are normally a reddish-brown or greenish-brown color.
“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,” the Institute published on their website.
“They’re still lobsters, but they stand out because they’re different.”
Little Blue is certainly different, and it is a joy to see him being appreciated for the beautiful part of God’s creation that he is.
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