Things went horribly awry in Oberhausen, Germany when an order for ten octopi was filled by the local aquarium and shipped to Werner von Schottenstein's Clam Grill and Oyster Bar for the day's menu. Paul the Psychic Octopus appears to have been mistaken for Raul the tasty octopus, and was chopped up and deep fried before anyone realized the mistake.
Raul wasn't really a well-known octopus. He had reached maturity only a week or so ago and was ready to be shipped off to the market for sale to the local German seafood restaurants, so there really wasn't a surprise there. But evidently, someone at the aquarium got the names Paul and Raul mixed up and packaged up Paul for shipment before the mistake was noticed.
World Cup fans are frantically trying to get Raul to pick a winner in Sunday's match, but so far, he just sits in the middle of the two flags and glares out the glass aquarium, not moving much at all. Said one octopus handler, "it almost seems as if Raul is smiling."
Meanwhile, Thailand elephant handlers are happy to report that they have trained several elephants to predict Spain as the winner over the Netherlands in Sunday's match, echoing what Paul, the Psychic Octopus had originally predicted before meeting his untimely demise.
