Paul the Octopus - Eight Arms and the Gift of Second Sight
What a variety of fates this creature has been promised: featuring as the main ingredient in a number of painful recipes, a stint as a guest mascot in Spain or a job as the predictor of winning lottery numbers. On 13 July, the city council of Carballiño in north-western Spain named the octopus an honorary citizen of the Galician town.
Whether Paul is aware of all this, we just don’t know. What we do know is that Paul the Octopus correctly predicted the outcome of all the World Cup matches played by Germany’s national team as well as the outcome of the final. Following his predictions, the Octopus vulgaris, who resides in the Sea Life Aquarium in the German city of Oberhausen, was offered pleasant prospects by the confirmed winners – and less pleasant ones by the losers. It was Paul’s first keeper that taught him how to tell the future.
Enlarge image
(© picture alliance / Sven Simon)
Making skilful use of his eight tentacles,Paul would open one of two boxes, each bearing the flag of one of the two opposing teams and each containing a mussel as a reward. Whichever box was emptied first indicated who would win the match. Paul made eight correct predictions during the World Cup! His final forecasts were made under the scrutiny of the press and TV. Paul even has a presence on Facebook, with his own official page and numerous fan pages.
Statisticiansare perplexed by the tentacle oracle’s success. And professors are soon likely to hear this constant refrain from their students: “OK, Prof, but how do you explain the octopus?” Is it because octopuses have nine brains and three hearts?
“Paul is staying put!” was the official comment in Oberhausen in response to enquiries about whether Paul is for sale or at least available for loan. The 30,000 euros offered makes no difference to this decision.
Paul the Octopus will, then, continue to reside in Germany’s Ruhr District, in his 1,500 litre tank in Oberhausen. Now that the World Cup is over, we are told, Paul will be making no more predictions. Instead, he can look forward to a leisurely retirement, apart from opening the occasional screw-top jar – another of his feats.
So it will be up to another animal oracle to predict the results of the next World Cup – octopuses don’t live to a ripe old age: just two to two and a half years.
© Auswärtiges Amt
