Maine fisherman catches three orange lobsters in one week

June 19 (UPI) -- A Maine fishermen caught three extremely rare orange lobsters in the space of one week.

Harbor Fish Market said Portland-based Captain Peter Pray hauled in two male orange lobsters June 9, then caught a third, a female, June 15.

The market said all three lobsters came from the same trap.

Pray's first catch came just a few days after Capt. Gregg Turner and his crew, Sage Blake and Mandy Cyr, caught an orange lobster while fishing aboard the boat Deborah and Megan. Turner's lobster was donated to the University of New England to allow researchers to study the cause of the crustacean's coloration.

Orange lobsters are believed to account for only one in 30 million lobsters

Pray's lobsters are being housed temporarily at Luke's Lobster on the Portland Pier. He said he would be willing to have them examined by scientists on the condition that they are returned to him so he can release them back into the sea.