This is no fish tale: A few weeks back, Bill Porter, a lobsterman out of Marblehead, netted a lobster that stood out from the other muddy-colored raw species in its company. Noting its pale yellow color, Patriots Seafood of Salem chose to donate the critter to the New England Aquarium.

Aquarium scientists were overjoyed: yellow lobsters have an incidence of just 1 in 30 million in the wild. Additionally, it adds to a growing collection of rare, jewel-colored lobsters that the New England Aquarium has collected in recent years. Along with the new addition, which will be on display this fall as soon as it receives a full health check, visitors have a chance to see lobsters that are blue, deep orangey-red, and a half-orange-half-brown "Halloween" shade. 

This lobster cornucopia might be worth a trip to the Aquarium itself, but there's lots more to see this fall on the waterfront. As part of the new "Science of Sharks" exhibit, kids can learn about the many species—some 500!—of shark, and reach out and stroke some epaulette, coral cat, and bullhead sharks in the first-floor touch tank. Other current highlights are the spooky sea jellies, majestic sea dragons, and spiky sea urchins in the edge-of-the-sea touch tank on the second floor. We think fall is the perfect time to pay these sea creatures a visit—before winter and spring's field trip season brings crowds—but anytime is a fun time to visit the Aquarium.

Photos courtesy of The New England Aquarium