A rare blue lobster caught off the coast of Maine has been spared the boiling pot for a new home. "Skyler" is the newest attraction at the Maine State Aquarium in Boothbay Harbor. A Maine teenager and her father landed the one-in-two-million catch last weekend. Meghan LaPlante, 14, said she and her father pulled in the vivid blue crustacean from one of their traps on Saturday."It definitely stood out," LaPlante said on Monday. "We were really surprised. I've never caught anything like it."
LaPlante helps her father run the family's Miss Meghan's Lobster Catch business in Old Orchard Beach. The blue color is the result of a rare genetic mutation that causes the lobster to produce an excessive amount of a particular protein. Most lobsters are dark bluish green to greenish brown. LaPlante said she named the lobster "Skyler" for its blue color, and because it's one of her favorite names.
IN-DEPTH
- Daybreak at Sea: Lobstermen Get to Work at Early Light
- Massachusetts Fish Market Marvels at Giant Lobster
