An extremely rare blue lobster has once again been found in the North East - and those that found it are trying to find it a home.
Staff at the newly opened Fish seafood shop in Low Fell were stunned to discover the bright-blue crustacean nestled amongst a load of other normal coloured lobsters in a delivery order on Friday.
Realising how rare the find was - blue lobsters are thought to be as rare as one in two million - the shop decided against throwing it in a boiling pot and are instead hoping to find it a home.
Local businessman and co-owner of Fish, Andy McDonald, 62, said he decided to put the word out about the rare find after seeing its vibrant blue hue. Speaking of the find, he said: "I get my supplies from a friend in Berwick, he gets all of my lobsters and crabs and everything. We received the delivery on Friday morning and low-and-behold it was in amongst the delivery.
"It's obviously a bit special and I don't want to just boil it and waste it, if it's quite rare then it should go to a marine sanctuary or something like that. Once I'd seen it, I was told it was quite rare so thought it was best to put the word out."
The lobster is now resting on ice at the shop, which opened up two weeks ago on Durham Road, but Andy wants to find it a home before it's too late. He said: "We've got it on ice in the cooler, they can stay alive out of the water for quite a while, but obviously, everyday is getting nearer to the end.
"So we need to find a home for it or we give it away. I've heard that they can be given away to marine sanctuaries so we are looking into that. It's a very attractive looking colour-scheme. Lobster come in all different colours, but usually more reds, rusts and browns, so the blue one stood right out."
Fishmonger, Ashleigh Clements, who works at Fish, said the lobster will hopefully go on to have a "happy life". She said: "I think it's a one in two million chance. I've worked with fish for 10 years now and I've never seen a blue lobster.
"It's going to a sanctuary. We're not killing it, we're not cooking it, we're going to let it go and have a happy life."
It's not the first time a blue lobster has been found in the region either, in 2019, a blue lobster was delivered to Collingwood Seafood at North Shields Fish Quay. Owner Tony McLean was washing and preparing the lobster for the dinner plate when he uncovered the creature's dazzling skeleton. Tony even took the in-demand crustacean on a tour around the Fish Quay to pose for pictures.
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