Paul the Octopus May Transfer to Madrid!

What a shame that Paul the psychic octopus has gone into retirement after his dazzling performance in predicting the outcome of the World Cup.   With his talents he could have won us a few squid on the lottery.

The latest ink to hit the press tells of a possible transfer to Madrid… Yes, really!  However, his owners are reluctant to let him go, despite a price on his head that may rival that of any top player.   Perhaps England should try recruiting him – after all they could use a player with eight legs.   Any investment in Paul is certain to more than pay for itself by attracting a huge following of fans if he takes up residence in Madrid’s Aquarium as one of Spain’s national treasures.

In case you have been hiding under a rock and missed all the World Cup media attention that Paul stirred up, here is a brief summary:  Prior to Germany’s World Cup matches Paul’s handlers put a container into his tank, with two compartments – one for each team.  An unfortunate, but evidently tasty, clam sacrifice was then placed in each compartment and it was left for Paul to decide which one to eat first – thereby accurately predicting the winner of the match.

We are proud to claim that Paul is English by birth, having started life as a hatchling in Weymouth before moving to reside at Sea Life in Oberhausen, Germany.  The odds on Paul surviving as a hatchling in the wild would have been slim as apparently only a few out of hundreds of thousands of hatchlings make it to adulthood, so Paul is one special critter.

Despite being an oracle, Paul seems oblivious to his celebrity status and the fact that he has been viewed on television by millions of people, and also a Twitter-trend sensation.  There is even an iPhone app called ‘Ask the Octopus’ for the indecisive.

The octopus is actually a very brainy little creature, with an excellent long- and short-term memory.  It possesses problem-solving abilities by using experience and trial and error and then remembering the outcome (which is more than can be said of a lot of humans!).  It also has eyesight comparable to that of a human, with the added advantage of using its tentacles and suckers as a sense organ.  The octopus can change colour to blend in with its surroundings, and to reflect its mood.  It is normally brown, but when scared it turns white and when angry it turns red.  Think about all that next time you fancy some sushi…

Obviously this particular bottom-dwelling cephalopod is destined to spread his tentacles and embrace far greater things.  Paul is no sucker!

You could consult Paul to see if you need to take out travel insurance for your next trip, but we already know the answer to that.  Don’t learn by trial and error, or experience, that the outcome might not be great without it!