Death's inescapable tentacles have curled themselves around Paul the octopus, the cephalopod sage who won worldwide fame over the summer by correctly predicting the results of a host of World Cup matches.
Paul the 'psychic' octopus predicted the winners of all Germany's World Cup clashes, and then the victors in the final, by selecting one of two boxes, each loaded with a
mussel food treat and marked on the outside with one of the teams.
Stefan Porwoll, the manager of the Oberhausen Sea Life Centre in Germany that the tentacled psychic called home, said Paul appeared to have died peacefully of natural causes during the night.
"We are consoled by the knowledge that he enjoyed a good life here and that the care provided for him by our dedicated displays team could not have been bettered," Porwoll said.
Staff at the centre said his death was not entirely unexpected, since common octopuses generally live only a couple of years. "His success made him almost a bigger story than the World Cup itself," Porwoll said. "We may decide to give Paul his own small burial plot within our grounds and erect a modest permanent shrine."
He added: "While this may seem a curious thing to do for a sea creature, Paul achieved such popularity during his short life that it may be deemed the most appropriate course of action."
Paul will achieve lucrative immortality in commercial enterprises ranging from special clothing lines to a mobile phone application, and will feature in a documentary to be released early next year.
His final prediction was that England would win the right to host the World Cup in 2018.
BBC
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