Germany unveils 'psychic' octopus, and he's French

Paul II makes debut, but keepers doubtful of his soccer insight

The new cephalopod, also named Paul in honour of his world-famous predecessor who passed away last week, was lowered gently into his tank in a ceremony carried live on national television.

Paul the younger initially appeared more publicity-shy than his media-hungry forerunner, sticking closely to the side walls of the tank as the TV cameras rolled. The aquarium in Oberhausen, western Germany, limited the number of photographers allowed into the room, amid hefty interest from around the world.

“We got him from near Montpellier” in southern France, an aquarium employee said.
However, the German aquarium was keen to downplay the possibility that Paul II will inflict the same pain to bookmakers as Paul I did, to the joy of punters around the world.
“No one yet knows whether Paul will be able to follow in his footsteps, or rather, his tentacle steps,” aquarium spokeswoman Tanja Munzig said in a statement.

Paul II was transferred to the centre in Oberhausen some weeks ago so his predecessor could instruct him in the ways of predicting the outcome of soccer matches. “The old Paul was supposed to teach him,” the spokeswoman said. “But unfortunately he died before he could do that.”

Paul I shot to fame by defying the odds to predict eight successive games during the recent World Cup in South Africa, including Spain’s 1-0 triumph against the Netherlands in the final. For the prediction, two boxes were lowered into the salty soothsayer’s tank, each containing a mussel and the flag of the two opposing teams.

Watched by a myriad of reporters, Paul would head to one box, wrench open the lid and gobble the tasty morsel, with the box he plumped for being deemed the likely winner.
He died peacefully in his sleep aged nearly three on October 26, sparking hundreds of messages of condolence from his 60,000-strong Facebook fan club .

It is unlikely, however, that around five-month-old Paul II will live to give predictions for the next World Cup in 2014 in Brazil, given that the life expectancy of octopuses in captivity is around three years.

Memorial for Paul I

The Sea Life centre in Oberhausen plans to build a memorial for the forecasting sensation in his former exhibit, which will include a screen showing the “best and most moving moments” of Paul’s life, it said.