Paul the Octopus: Memorial Dedicated
Posted: Sunday, February 20, 2011
by Jack H. Schick
Paul at Home in Oberhausen (2010)
Paul the octopus was honored with a memorial at the Oberhausen Sea Life Center in western Germany in January. Paul, who rose to fame as a predictor of European and World Cup soccer game results over the past few years, died of natural causes on October 25, 2010. The Sea Life Center unveiled a six-foot plastic replica of the octopus oracle clutching a soccer ball in his arms. Inside the ball, Paul's ashes were placed in a gold-leaf urn, which also resembles an octopus.
Paul, who was named for an ink-blot octopus character in the poem “Der Tintenfisch Paul Oktopus” by German children’s writer Boy Lornen was a phenomenal predictor of European football game results. In the United European Football Association’s Euro tournament in 2008, he was four for six, and in the World Cup in 2010, he was a perfect eight for eight. He did not consistently pick his home, German, team. He predicted their losses to Serbia and Spain. He also predicted that Spain would win the championship, which they did in a controversial game over the Netherlands.
Paul Making His Pick
There was much controversy and scientific argument over Paul’s “psychic ability.” In the lead-up to Germany’s soccer matches in the UEFA tournament, Paul was presented with two clear plastic boxes. Each contained food, his favorite: the soft parts of a mussel. In each container was the national flag of a team, usually Germany and their opponents. The box Paul opened first and ate from was judged to be the predicted winner. He failed to predict Germany’s losses to Croatia, and then to Spain in the final, but was correct in the four other games. In the World Cup tournament two years later, he was perfect.
"Spain To Win!"
Naturally, scientists and others scoffed at Paul’s “talent.” He was given only one opportunity per game. Could he have made the same choice several times in a row? They asked. Others claim that though octopi are color blind, they do recognize shapes and patterns. The Croatian and Spanish flags, his only two wrong picks, have a horizontal pattern similar to the German flag. Others suggest that there was a subtle difference to the taste/scent left on each box. Some suggest better quality mussels were put in one container. Could it simply be a sly fraud? After all, the odds of getting each pick correct with a coin flip are one in 256, not astronomical odds.
Many around the world spoke out against Paul, considering it nothing more than a publicity stunt to promote the World Cup. Iranian president Ahmadinejad mentioned Paul several times in a speech in Tehran last July. He accused the West of using the octopus to spread “western propaganda and superstition,” and lamented the decadence of western culture. The BBC put the cephalopod on its list of top 100 most annoying people of 2010.
Paul With His Replica World Cup
Regardless, Paul stirred up international enthusiasm. When he received death threats from fan of teams he’d predicted to lose, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Zapatero offered Paul political asylum. He said, “I am thinking of sending him a protection team.” In respect for Paul’s pick of Spain to be the ultimate world champion, renowned Spanish chef Jose Andres took octopus off his menu, until further notice. The Dutch believe Paul may have biased the English referees in the final match. The Netherlands team received an inordinate number of penalties. Paul opened a Facebook page and there were several web sites established by both fans and detractors.
When his retirement was announced on July 12, 2010, several nations stepped forward claiming Paul as their own. England claimed Paul was hatched from and egg at the Sea Life Centre at Weymouth, Dorset, England in January, 2008. He was later transferred to Germany. Italy claimed that Paul was caught in the Mediterranian off their western coast and belongs to them. France claimed Paul was actually caught off the cost of the Napolenonic exile island of Elba and is their property. Paul saved everyone court costs and died in Germany before the legal fights began in earnest.
Octopus Vulgaris,the Common Octopus species of which Paul was a representative, lives about two years in the wild (he lived 2 years 10 months). They range in size from 12 to 22 inches and weigh from 6.6 to 22 pounds full grown. They are the most intellegent of all invertebrates (animals with no spine). Some scientists claim they are the 8th most intelligent creature on the planet. Octopi have a very complex nervous system. They demonstrate problem solving and have both short and long term memory. They have displayed observational learning-show them how to do something and they will be able to do it themselves. They have been observed engaging in activities that can only be described as play-a sure sign of intelligence. There are recorded incidents of octopi climbing on board fishing ships, opening holds and eating crabs. They are the only invertebrate observed to use tools, scooping out dens with shells. In some countries Octopi are on the list of laboratory ‘experimental animal’ on which surgery cannot be performed without anesthesia. In the United Kindom octopi are the only invertebrate that falls under cruelty to animal laws.
Paul's Memorial and Urn
So, Paul the great prognosticator is not longer with us. Sports fans all over the world will have to rely on their best guess in the 2012, World Cup games. He brought attention to his species that may have never occurred with even the most fantastic new scientific findings about this amazing creature. His memorial is prominent at the Oberhausen Sea Life Center and is visited by sea life and soccer fans from all over the world. We should all stop to think about exactly how much we do not know about some of the familiar, but mysterious creatures with which we share this planet. It is, after all, the only ecosystem we know of in the entire vastness of the universe.
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