Are Blue Lobsters Even Considered Rare in Maine at This Point?
Maine prides itself in its main delicacy: Lobster.
You picture our rocky shores and immediately visions of Portland Head Light, sunrises from Acadia, and lobster boats cruising near shore with their colorful buoys and traps pop into mind.
We’re known for our working wharves, local lobstermen, and top-quality cuisine featuring the freshest seafood in the country.
Apparently, we’re also known for blue lobsters.
Blue Lobsters in Maine
According to BBC, there is a 1-in-2-million chance that you will come across a rare blue lobster. What gives them their unique color is a genetic mutation that results in a beautiful blue rather than the normal red that we’re used to seeing these crustaceans wearing.
Well, Maine must have millions of people lobstering or millions of lobsters, or maybe both, because we seem to get our fair share of blue and unique lobster sightings.
One was just recently donated to the Gulf of Maine Research Institute by Pepper’s Landing restaurant and just a few days later another was caught by a father and son in Casco Bay. We feasted our eyes upon one of these rare guys back in July, another in 2019, and way back in 2014. We also had the unique opportunity of learning about a cotton candy lobster last year and a two-toned lobster a couple of years back.
That’s a lot of unique lobster sightings…
So, are they less rare than they used to be? Do we just have a crap ton of lobsters? Or are we just plain lucky?