The
aquarium in Germany that housed the football-predicting octopus Paul has
unveiled a shrine to its most famous former resident.
Paul, in one of the stranger stories of last summer's World Cup in South Africa, correctly 'predicted' every Germany result and even the final itself.
Two pieces of food were placed into his tank in two boxes - each bearing the flag of one of the competing teams. And on every occasion - eight in total, lest we forget - Paul picked out food from the winning team.
Paul hit the headlines once again in October as the sad news of his death emerged.
At the time of his death Sea Life Aquarium manager Stephan Porwoll had hinted at plans for a 'modest' shrine in Paul's honour - but over the last months the plans have clearly become a little more ambitious.
The statue of Paul stands over six-feet tall, with the octopus sat atop an enormous football adorned with the flags of all 32 nations who competed at the World Cup.
And if that wasn't enough, the cremated remains of Paul can be seen in the centre of the ball, placed lovingly in a golden urn.
So now that the World Cup is over, the sage has sadly passed away and the shrine has been built to his honour, have we finally heard the end of octopuses predicting football results?
Well, maybe not.
Another octopus at the aquarium has been touted as a possible eight-legged sage - but according to aquarium spokeswoman Tanja Munzig, there's no intention of forcing the octopus into the prediction game.
"We're not pushing him into being an oracle against his will, that's for sure," she said.
"But if he is going to develop an interest in football and forecasting, we'll be very supportive of his talents."
If a shrine and a potential prodigy isn't an aptly strange conclusion to the mysterious phenomenon that was Pyschic Paul, then World of Sport doesn't know what is.
More pictures of the unveiling:
