Could Skye be a hotspot for rare fiery orange lobsters?

The chances of a European lobster being orange is one in 10 million - but one fisherman believes he's discovered a hotspot of them off the coast of Scotland.

Last week Iain Matheson caught two in the space of three days off Skye. He's now seen seven in the same square mile of seabed over the last nine years.

Live lobsters are usually a deep blue but the orange colour is caused by a gene mutation in the creature's shell.

Matheson, who fishes from Stein on the Waternish Peninsula, said: "They look like they have already been cooked."

One of the first orange lobsters Matheson caught was sent to Macduff Marine Aquarium in Aberdeenshire, while all the others have been released back into the sea.

"They've all been caught within one square mile of each other," said the fisherman, who runs Loch Bay Shellfish.

"I would imagine it is a mother with a mutant gene that is producing them."

He said he knew they were different lobsters each time because individual animals could be identified by markings on their shells.

The fisherman said it was "amazing" so many survived because they could be easily spotted by predators, which include fish and seals.

The usual deep blue colour camouflages lobsters against seaweed.

The chances of a European lobster being orange is one in 10 million, according to conservation charity the National Lobster Hatchery.

The Seacoast Science Centre in the US said gene mutations caused some lobsters to appear bright blue, red or "fiery" orange and yellow.

Earlier this month, an Alloa fisherman caught an orange lobster in the Firth of Forth.

Four years ago, one was landed by a Barra-based fisherman in the Western Isles and in 2021 a one in two million bright blue lobster was caught by a fisherman off Aberdeen.