Picture credit: John McInness
A fisherman lived through a poignant moment in recent days, as he caught a purple lobster for a second time while fishing off the New England coast.
The fisherman, named as John McInnes, immediately recognized the colorful crustacean from a previous catch, when the animal was smaller and younger. He had let the lobster go the first time around, as it was too small to keep and serve.
John did keep the rare lobster the second time but won’t cook it. Instead, he intends to donate it to an aquarium.
Lobsters tend to be brownish or greenish in color, but once in a while, a genetic mutation causes unusually bright pigmentation of their shells. Blue, yellow, and bright orange lobsters are known to exist, but these don’t usually last long in the wild as they can’t hide from predators.