Naysayers, including Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, dismissed his predictive abilities as "western propaganda and superstition." And some Germans, angered by his prognosticating that their country would lose to Spain in the World Cup, demanded that Paul be eaten.

Stefan Porwoll, manager of the Oberhausen Sea Life Centre in Germany, said: "We are consoled by the knowledge that he enjoyed a good life here and that the care provided him by our dedicated displays team could not have been bettered. His success made him almost a bigger story than the World Cup itself. We may decide to give Paul his own small burial plot within our grounds and erect a modest permanent shrine.

The Oberhausen Sea Life's website says "Paul's name will forever rank alongside, if not slightly ahead of, other marine life notables such as Flipper and Keiko the killer whale."