Paul, the octopus with the perfect score predicting World Cup wins, is unfazed by threats to turn him into paella after Germany’s loss to Spain.
“He has very good people looking after him,” says Ellie Cowley, spokeswoman for Sea Life Aquariums.
“He’s definitely safe,” says Daniel Fey, entertainment director and Paul specialist at Oberhausen Sea Life Aquarium in Berlin, where the psychic octopus does his celebrity choices.
“People send us recipes in threats, but most of the people, even in Germany, are so intelligent they can see Germany lost because they didn’t play as well as the Spanish,” says Fey, clearly a risk-taker himself.
German newspapers report that some of Paul’s bitterly disappointed fans chanted anti-octopus songs in the main square at the end of Wednesday’s loss to Spain.
A multilingual din on Facebook and Twitter has erupted of people cheering him (Pulpo Paul, the Spanish word for octopus, is the highest trending topic on Twitter) or threatening to consign him to a pan with some lemon, garlic and olive oil.
On live TV at 5 a.m. Toronto time Friday, Paul will attempt to extend his unbeaten streak of World Cup predictions by forecasting the Germany-Uruguyan runner-up match on Saturday, followed quickly by two new flag-covered tanks of mussels and his favourite for the Spain-Netherlands final on Sunday.
In the meantime, “he sleeps a lot,” says Fey. In octopus years, Paul is quite old, so he’s unlikely to make it to the 2014 World Cup.
“It’s all balanced and unbiased,” says Cowley, who insists the mussels in each tank are the same. “They’re very intelligent creatures. Very sensitive.”
So Paul will no doubt be delighted that Spain’s celebrity chef Jose Andres was so pleased with Paul and Spain’s win that he has taken octopus off the menu in his restaurant Jaleo in Bethesda, Maryland.
“He knows what people are saying, of course.” Cowley reminded the Star.
