Lobsterman Catches Rare, Bright Blue 2-Pound Lobster Off the Coast of Cape Cod

A Massachusetts lobsterman pulled a surprising catch off the coast of Cape Cod Monday when he trapped a bright blue lobster.

Wayne Nickerson, a

commercial lobsterman for the past 35 years in Plymouth, Massachusetts, was behind the wheel of his boat, F/V Windsong, when he spotted the lobster in a wire trap.

He immediately called his wife, Jan Nickerson, and told her to meet him at the dock.

“He let out a loud exclamation of excitement,” Jan told ABC News. “He was very clear about how excited he was.”

The 2-pound lobster, whom Jan immediately named Bleu, was only the second rare blue crustacean Mickerson has caught in his career. The first time was in 1990, according to Jan.

Oceanographers estimate that just one in two million lobsters is blue, according to the Lobster Institute at the University of Maine. The coloring comes from an excessive amount of a particular protein produced by a genetic defect.

Jan said her husband and his fellow lobstermen immediately separated Bleu from the other lobsters so he wouldn’t get hurt. The rare lobster is now being held in a tank and the couple hopes to share Bleu with a local aquarium.

“We want people to be able to see him,” Jan said.