Blue lobsters are a rare creature but the sky-coloured crustacean at the Northumberland Lobster Hatchery in Pictou, N.S. is extra special.
The aurora blue spotted lobster, named Delilah, is carrying about 3,000 berries, or eggs, on her underside.
"She's the first blue lobster that we've had that has fully laden with eggs on her tail," says hatchery director Gary Nowlan.
Researchers say the chances of finding a blue lobster are one in two million. Delilah was caught by a fisherman with special permission to supply the hatchery.
"Normally if a fisherman catches a lobster with eggs on it, of any colour, then his license requires him to put that back," says Nowlan. "He has to put that back in the water by law."
But will Delilah's babies also be blue-hued?
No one at the hatchery knows for certain what colour the offspring of a blue lobster might be. Normally lobster larvae are placed back in the ocean about two to three weeks after hatching, but in this case a special lobster requires special treatment.
The larvae from the blue lobster will stay an extra few weeks and a handful will be kept at the hatchery indefinitely to see what colour they become.
"So we could have 1,500 to 2,000 baby blue lobsters, you know, or we could have none. So it is going to be interesting just to see," says Nowlan.
He expects to know the answer by the end of the summer.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Dan MacIntosh
