BEVERLY, Mass. — Mike Malewicki at first didn’t notice he had a such a rare catch when he hauled in his lobster trap 12 miles offshore earlier this week. But there it was crawling among the usual load of brown and green crustaceans — a cobalt blue lobster.
Scientists estimate 1 in about 5 million lobsters is blue, although that number might be revised after a number of recent reports, said Tony LaCasse, spokesman for the New England Aquarium in Boston.
Malewicki, who has been lobstering for 30 years, initially gave the 1.1-pound blue lobster to a local seafood market to display for children to see. The market called the aquarium, which will exhibit Malewicki's catch with two other blue lobsters in its collection.
LaCasse said blue lobsters face long odds of survival. Most lobsters are a green/brown color - before they’re cooked - and blend in with the ocean bottom to avoid predators.
“It’s a testimony to that little guy that he’s gotten this far,” said LaCasse.
Despite their rarity, blue lobsters aren’t worth a lot of money.
“People generally don’t want to eat them,” LaCasse said.
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Details for this story were reported by The Salem, Mass., News.
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