Before the recently concluded World Cup competition fades to memory, we need to honor the triumph of –not Spain–but Paul, the octopus who correctly predicted the winning team eight times in a row. Paul, who lives in an aquarium in Germany, predicted the winner in Germany’s last seven games, then went on to pick Spain in the World Cup finale. Good job, Paul. You’re the toast of animal oracles worldwide!
Here’s how Wikipedia describes the cephalopod phenom.
Paul (purportedly hatched January 2008) is a common octopus living in a tank at a Sea Life Centre in Oberhausen, Germany, who is an animal oracle and now retired predictor of football matches, usually international matches in which Germany was playing. He came to worldwide attention with his 100% accurate predictions in the 2010 World Cup.
During a divination, Paul was presented with two boxes containing food in the form of a mussel, each marked with the flag of a national football team in an upcoming match. He chose the box with the flag of the winning team in four of Germany’s six Euro 2008 matches, and in all seven of their matches in the 2010 World Cup. He correctly predicted a win for Spain against the Netherlands in the World Cup final on 11 July by eating the mussel in the box with the Spanish flag on it.[1] His predictions were 100% (8/8) correct for the 2010 World Cup and 86% (12/14) correct overall. Paul was retired after the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
Okay, congrats to Spain, too, even though our friends in Aruba were greatly disappointed by the Netherlands’ 1-0 loss.
My ex -husband was an octopus named Paul! LOLOL
I'm right there with you, Sansego! If it has more than four legs, (except Starfish), I run in the other direction! But Paul is so cool, and when he's swimming, his ballet is so graceful! I have severe, SEVERE arachnophopbia, and spiders seem to have an awareness of that fear and will usually come crawling in my direction. I find that very odd. It's almost as if they can sense my terror. But, over towards the left, just outside our back door, which is all glass and which is the door out of my meditation room, an enormous (saucer-size) banana spider has made her home. She's actually quite beautiful and colorful, as spiders go. We've named her "Charlotte". I asked my husband if he would re-locate Charlotte to the opposite side of the yard, under the big oak tree near the fence. He did that by putting a piece of cardboard for her to walk on, then he carried her and put her on a limb, far away from the door. I got the broom and destroyed her web. Less than an hour passed, and Charlotte was back, right outside the door, industriously spinning a new web home. I leave her alone now, just don't go near her, and somehow I know she won't hurt me. They aren't dangerous; just look fierce. I know this isn't synchronistic, but Charlotte has lessened my fear of spiders and has made me rather fascinated because she came right back to her chosen space. (We moved her several times and she came back each time, so I decided she's where she wants to be and don't disturb her anymore.) Her webs are things of intricate beauty. Re Paul, may he have a long and safe life, free of all predators! cj in MU
I wrote about Paul on my blog and also about a psychic parakeet prior to the game. They both predicted the result but only Paul got it right. Lesson: Never trust a psychic parakeet!
I was hoping you would post about Paul! This story is officially my favourite of the year. I was oddly affected by it. I've always had a kind of "fear" of Octopi. In fact, whenever a science text book or a magazine had pictures of animals I find creepy looking (octopus, squid, spiders of all kinds), I always have to cover up the picture if I have to read the info on the page! There's something creepy about Octopus for me. Because of this, I've never eaten Octopus (I've only eaten squid once, without knowing it!).
However, Paul has warmed my heart. This story just struck something deep in me that makes me look at his species in a completely different light. I was saddened to hear that angry sports fan wanted to kill or eat Paul, just because they didn't like his prediction coming true. Because of Paul, I'll never eat an Octopus. These creatures need to be studied, not eaten!
I'd love to hear Paul's prediction for the 2012 presidential race…matching up Obama with various Republican politicians who are likely to run. But, maybe he's only a sports psychic!
How deep do octopi live in the gulf??
He is a gem is he not?
I loved this story, thanks for sharing with this media free person 🙂
oh, i've seen this wonderful little creature on the media, too! isn't he just wonderful! neat story, jeninacide! and cj, i love the thought too –
Doesn't this make us wonder if we land-living creatures are less evolved than the sea-living creatures? Or at least, that if our senses have been reduced to a lower frequency when we left the sea! Dolphins and whales are magnificently intelligent. Also may suggest that perhaps the Great Crystal that disappeared with the sinking of Atlantis (MU) may still be very operative under the ocean bed and its frequencies are absorbed abd re-directed through the sea-critters. I love the thought. cj in MU
They're so terribly odd looking, but strangely beautiful when in motion.
I was watching something on the Discovery channel recently about how intelligent Octopi are. They are ranked in the top 10 most intelligent animals on earth, and are also unlike any other animal we have yet discovered as their nervous system is designed in a way so that they essentially have a brain not only in their main head area but also in each of their tentacles.
I had a very strange experience with an octopus at a local aquarium recently. It was sitting at the back corner of the aquarium, and when Erick and I came up to take a picture of it, it came to the front at spread all of its tentacles out over the entire surface of the window, as if posing! It then continued to "pose" and gave us some really gorgeous and interesting pictures! Octopi are my new favorite invertebrate!
Oh, thanks for this! I've seen the headlines about the prognosticating cephalopod, but I didn't know before how he did it! Totally cool, and I was glad only that two teams made it to the final game who had never won before. I didn't really care, but you know someone had to win!