If you happen to spot a blue lobster that looks something like it came out of the hit cartoon ‘The Smurfs’, consider yourself lucky! This rare mutation in lobsters occurs with just one in 2 million lobsters.
Scientists believe that the reason behind the cobalt blue crustacean is a genetic defect that causes the lobster to produce an excessive amount of protein. The combination of the protein and astaxanthin, an antioxidant in the food they eat, results in their shells favoring a blue pigment rather than the normal brownish color. Unfortunately though, blue lobsters get eaten by predators fairly quickly, because of their unique color, making them all the more rare to find. They would be better off with a bulls eye painted on them.
Some aquariums like the New England & Atlantis aquariums and SeaWorld at San Diego are said to a have resident blue lobsters that draw a lot of attention.
What’s even rarer than the said Blue Lobsters that have an occurrence of only 1 in 30 million are yellow lobsters and Albino lobsters estimated at one in 100 million!
