A rare white-coloured lobster has been caught by a north-east fishermen.
The crustacean stunned Jamie Meadows when he found her inside his creel net, about a mile off the coast of St Combs, near Fraserburgh.
Now he hopes to save the lobster from the pot and pass it on to a nearby sealife centre.
Mr Meadows, 22, said: “I’ve been fishing for lobster for a few years, but I’ve never seen anything like this before.
“After I saw it, I went on the internet and was amazed to see how rare it was,” he said. “There was an albino one found off Dorset a couple of years back, but its been a long time since anything like this has been found around here.”
Although not pure white, the specimen is much paler than the usual dark blue kind. Albinism in lobsters is caused by a lack of colour pigment and can be related to their diet.
Mr Meadows, who works out of Fraserburgh harbour on the fishing boat Exodus, said: “I’ve approached the marine aquarium at Macduff and they seem keen to take her on. It would be a shame to eat her, she’s too special. It would be nice if she got a place there.”
The centre’s manager Claire Matthews said they had yet to see the white lobster, which hasn’t yet been given a name. “We have a lot of lobster of various sizes and colours,” she said. “So we would definitely be interested in taking a look at this one.
“I wouldn’t like to comment on how rare it is until I’ve seen it. Hopefully, we will be in touch with Jamie soon.”
In 2006, the award-winning aquarium welcomed Freyha, an unusual blue and white lobster which was caught off Lossiemouth.
Four years earlier, a white-shelled female lobster was bought by the centre after it was landed by fishermen off Orkney.