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© Gabe Souza/Staff PhotographerBill Coppersmith of Windham holds a normal looking lobster next to a bright orange lobster that he caught while fishing in deepwater canyons in the Gulf of Maine with his steersman Brian Skillings.
Bill Coppersmith caught a bright orange lobster Wednesday, and in 1997 his catch included an albino.

When it comes to catching "one in several million" lobsters, Bill Coppersmith's score is 2.

While fishing in deep-water canyons in the Gulf of Maine with his sternman Brian Skillings on Wednesday, Coppersmith caught a rare bright orange lobster. He named the colorful lobster "Captain Eli" after his 4-year-old grandson.

Robert Bayer, executive director of The Lobster Institute at the University of Maine, says it's difficult to arrive at an exact number on the odds of an orange lobster.

"What the real numbers are, it's a guess," he said. "It's one in several million, there's no doubt about that."

This is the second time Coppersmith, who is from Windham, has brought up a rare lobster from the depths. In 1997, he snagged a rare white, or albino, lobster.

"Captain Eli" will be kept at the Fisherman's Catch in Raymond, run by Coppersmith's son Billy Jr., for about a month before the lobsterman returns to deep water and releases it back into the ocean.