Blue Lobster Caught Off Canadian Coast

Blue Lobster (Courtesy of Bobby Stoddard)

A blue lobster was recently hauled by a fisherman off the coast of Canada.

The extremely rare blue lobster turned up last month in one of the traps set up by Bobby Stoddard of Nova Scotia.

"This is the only one that I've ever seen," Stoddard told CNN. "And my dad has been a lobsterman of about 55 years, and he caught one about 45 years ago, but hadn't seen one since."

The blue lobster has been placed inside a holding tank at Stoddard's business while he is trying to figure out what to do with it.

"I don't know what the best thing is to do," Stoddard told CNN. "It probably belongs back in the ocean, but I'd like for as many people as possible to see it."

Catching a blue lobster is said to happen once in a blue moon since according to scientists, only one out of every two million lobsters are blue.

The Lobster Institute says that "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."

If you're wondering if a blue lobster retains its color after being cooked. No, it turns red, too, like its red brethren.