Paul the psychic octopus is one of the unlikely stars of World Cup 2010 but his ability to correctly forecast the outcome of Germany’s matches threatens to land him in hot water.

Having accurately predicted that Germany would beat Argentina in the quarter-finals, Paul faced the wrath of angry Argentinian supporters who have blamed the octopus for their World Cup exit and expressed a desire to eat him in an act of vengeance.

But Paul’s keeper Oliver Walenciak remains confident that the octopus will continue performing his remarkable act for years to come from the safety of his tank in Oberhausen as opposed to the dinner table.

He said: “There are always people who want to eat our octopus but he is not shy and we are here to protect him as well. He will survive.”

Paul is able to make his predictions courtesy of Walenciak and his staff who place two containers filled with mussels and a flag to represent each football nation into his tank.

The container selected by the hungry octopus is assumed to be the predicted winner and so far Paul has a 100 per cent success rate for all five of Germany’s fixtures during World Cup 2010, including their 1-0 defeat to Serbia.
[…]
“We know that all octopus have nine brains so we know he has exceptional powers.”

Too bad we can’t find politicians with nine brains. For some of them, one would be a nice change.




  1. Luc says:

    I call BS. Let James Randi examine this octopus.

  2. Animby says:

    Luc, I suspect you’re right to be skeptical. But, octos are pretty smart fellers. When I was working in Gitmo, we used to dive on the reefs almost daily. One little guy got to be BFF with a couple of us. (and maybe others – who knows what the morality of an octopus is?) When we got to his part of the reef, we’d scratch the sand outside his den. He’d come out and look at us then suddenly jet up and land on one of our masks. Then he’d crawl up into our hair and down onto our tanks. He’d always end up on our regulators. We figured he liked the bubbles and perched on the regulator, he could still admire his reflection in our mask. As soon as we’d start our ascent, he’d drop off and head back home. BTW, as I said, he was a little guy. Probably no more than ten inches spread out.

  3. stopher2475 says:

    If you eat him you get his power.

  4. Personality says:

    Sounds like the south Africans from District 9. Wanting to eat the aliens to gain their power.

  5. Too bad we can’t find politicians with nine brains. For some of them, one would be a nice change.

    Actually, one would be an improvement for most of the members of our species; for politicians, it might just reduce their negative nine brain deficits by one.

  6. John E. Quantum says:

    “There are always people who want to eat our octopus”

    Ain’t that the truth

  7. sargasso_c says:

    I for one welcome our new nine brained cephalopod overlords.

  8. Xendrick says:

    We need to figure out how to harness his power for use in the stockmarket.

  9. BmoreBadBoy says:

    “Too bad we can’t find politicians with nine brains. For some of them, one would be a nice change.”

    Ain’t that the truth! Good riddance senator byrdie!

  10. ayana says:

    Of all the interesting and odd creatures in the oceans, nothing is so amazing as the octopus. An Octopus has three hearts and it can squeeze through a hole the size of a 10-cent coin.

    bye all octopus fans around the world!!!!

  11. Rich says:

    He’s obviously the inspiration for Chtulu (sic?). I’ve heard they are among the smartest of all invertebrates.

  12. monkey_lover101 says:

    i just cant believe he got 5 right! Also who would eat the smartest octopus ever? he is smarter than most humans! its a miracle!

  13. i belive in this 8 leeged creature says:

    itz 2 bad these humanz r fallin for an 8 leggd crerture

  14. monkey_lover101 says:

    i cant belive argentine is this selfish and jelous of uncle paul, the smartest creature ever known!

  15. monkey_lover101 says:

    i going with the octopus on this one! Go spain an dgo uncle sam!


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