'Cotton candy' colored lobster caught off New Castle is 1 in 100 million

NEW CASTLE — An extremely rare, cotton candy lobster was discovered by a local lobsterman Sunday off the shores of New Castle, a once-in-a-lifetime catch estimated to be 1-in-100 million.

Joseph Kramer, a Stratham resident and owner of Atlantic Lobster Company in Portsmouth, is no stranger to the seas. The 25-year-old merchant marine works on tugboats in New York City and has experience working for lobstermen in southern Maine dating back to his days at St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Dover, though this summer marks his first season baiting and setting his own lobster traps.

Assisted by his father and girlfriend, Kramer took his boat out Sunday afternoon to bring up about 20 of his traps. Inside the last one, Kramer observed what he thought was a blue lobster, a rarity that the New England Aquarium estimates is one in every 2 million lobsters, captivating him and his small crew. Meeting the legal size requirement for him to keep it, he planned to take the lobster to a local aquarium.

Kramer had previously seen a blue lobster caught by another fisherman, but was shocked to find one in his trap, during his first season operating his own boat under his own commercial license. He felt it could be the only rare lobster he’d ever find in his lifetime.

But on Tuesday, after bringing his lucky catch to the Seacoast Science Center in Rye, he learned his haul was more atypical than he originally thought.

“Now I think it is definitely the only one I will ever catch, maybe even the only one I will ever see again in my lifetime,” Kramer said. “I’m over the moon about catching it, and letting it be seen by everyone at the Science Center makes it even better. Knowing that it will spend its time in safety I think is the best place for it to be kept and preserved.”

Expert explains science behind cotton candy lobster

Seacoast Science Center aquarist Sam Rutka confirmed Kramer’s catch is a healthy male cotton candy lobster, between 6 and 14 years old.

A genetic mutation causes some lobsters to have different color schemes. But between those that are more vibrantly-colored, what distinguishes them is the display of their coloring and markings, according to Rutka.

The aquarist noted some lobsters with a genetic mutation affecting their coloring appear as if they were hand- or spray-painted, appearances resembling clouds in a sunset, constellations or aurora borealis, better known as the Northern lights phenomenon.

“You see these beautiful creatures and just like a fingerprint or a snowflake, each one is going to be different,” Rutka explained. “They may have the same grouping for color, but the pattern is going to be different.

“This one has a really beautiful kind of a lavender, purple, pink-ish hue to it that puts it right in the cotton candy category,” he added.

Though still rare, Rutka conceded blue and cotton candy-colored lobsters are found in the Gulf of Maine and brought to aquariums once in a while. In his 10-plus-year career, Rutka estimates he’s worked with 15 cotton candy-shaded lobsters.

What makes any cotton candy sighting especially rare is the fact it’s easier for predators to feed on eye-catching-colored lobsters.

“Genetic mutations are a normal part of nature. These animals, because of mutation, are expressing different color genes in their shells, so that actually makes them more able to be predated upon,” Rutka said. “It’s also rare because it's more easily spotted by predators, so that increases the rarity of finding one because it means no one else has found it yet to eat it.”

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The Seacoast Science Center expects to have the crustacean on display at its Rye facility in the next two to three weeks, if all goes according to plan. The lobster has been placed into a suitable quarantine tank at the center to allow it to mellow out following its legal capture.

Kramer said he has worked in the commercial lobster industry since he was 16 years old. This summer, however, marks his rookie season baiting and laying down on his own traps on his own time, a primarily weekend endeavor as he works long shifts on tugboats.

Kramer recalls all the school field trips he’d taken to the Seacoast Science Center as a youngster and hopes visiting students are mesmerized by his find, once it’s on display.

“They’re not caught often at all,” he said. “Especially being that it was my first time hauling my own gear, first year on my own, that doesn’t happen to many people very often. I hope that it brings a prosperous season and a prosperous time going lobstering on my own. I’m definitely happy to give it back and show it off.”

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: 'Cotton candy' lobster caught off New Castle NH is 1 in 100 million