A dad and daughter have told of the exciting moment they caught a “one-in-two-million” blue lobster on a family day out.
Henry Jones, 35, was on a day out with his little girl, Abbey, 12, when they decided to try crabbing and made the “once in a lifetime” catch.
The pair bought some nets and bacon and got set up at Ilfracombe harbour in Devon expecting to catch a small crab.
But, 20 minutes later, the duo were left shocked when rare a blue lobster found its way into their net.
Dad Henry says he was told the catch is a “one-in-two-million find” and both him and Abbey were so excited when they saw it.
Henry, who owns a landscaping company, from Barnstaple, Devon, said: “Me and my daughter were down at Ilfracombe for the day and she decided that she wanted to try crabbing.
“We bought a net and some bacon and spent about 20 minutes trying to catch something.
“The thing we finally caught turned out to be a blue lobster, which caught a lot of attention.
“My first reaction was ‘how have I caught a lobster in a crab net?’ then I realised it was blue. Other people in the harbour told me that it was incredibly rare.
“It was surreal really. It was a once in a lifetime catch.”
Abbey, who was the one to catch the lobster, decided to name it Steve and was very happy with her find.
She said: “I felt really excited and it didn’t feel real. I named it Steve.”
Henry says they decided to donate Steve to Ilfracombe Aquarium to spare him from becoming a meal.
The aquarium apparently already had one blue lobster, but it was three times smaller than the pair’s catch.
Steve is currently in quarantine while staff find him a suitable tank, but the dad and daughter have been able to visit him since dropping him off.
Henry said: “We thought it would be best to give it a home rather than letting it back out where it could be dangerous.
“If a fishing boat had gotten to it then it might have been someone’s lunch.
“It seemed pretty happy. Apparently they are known to be quite aggressive but it seemed absolutely fine.
“Everyone we showed was quite excited, they all couldn’t believe it really.
“The pictures don’t really do it justice. When you see it in person it is so blue.”
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