Rare Bright Blue Crab Offers Incredible Photo Op! (Video)

Frank McFarland, a fisherman in Nome Alaska caught something unusual in his pot on July 4 — a periwinkle blue red king crab. A blue red king crab is quite a rarity according to SC Times.

The blue crab has actually become quite a tourist attraction. McFarland took his blue crab to the Norton Sound Seafood Center for nearly two weeks while he was making preparations to have it mounted as reported by ABC News.

During that two week period the blue crab made its temporary home in a 350 gallon tank. The blue crab was far from lonely. He was visited daily by tons of people coming by to visit. The blue crab had become somewhat famous with all the selfies and other various photos taken with him.

Scott Kent, of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game in Nome, Alaska, admits that it is highly unusual for a red king crab to be blue. ABC News reports that blue crabs only turn up “once in a blue moon.”

Earlier in 2014 another blue red king crab was discovered in a shipment of crabs from Russia to Japan.

What causes the red king crab to be blue? Kent tells ABC News he “suspects the crab’s unusual coloring is the result of a mutation” Regardless, the blue crab is eye-catching and fun to see.

Photo Credit: www.mid-day.com