The blue ring octopus is an exceptionally rare treasure that originally beelonged to the Kuapa people of Eastern New Guinea. It was stolen by the infamous Spanish pirate Pedro Cervantes de Costa Pequenato a Silva (or as most remember him, Black Pepe). Pepe met his demise in a freak tsunami off the coast of Denmark, and the blue ring octopus was thought to have been lost to the sea with him. Fortunately for ring octopus enthusiasts, the rare blue resurfaced a century later in the private collection of eccentric Swedish millionaire Njord Njordrickson. Unfortunately, Njordrickson was not keen on sharing his treasure, and actually threatened to eat the blue ring octopus so he could take it to his grave.
The events of July 19th, 1876 are not clear in the historical record. Some say Njordrickson's longtime butler assassinated him with his own writing quill. Some say Njordrickson was simply the victim of a failed attempt at self-tattooing. What is indisputable is that Njordrickson was found dead in a grisly pool of ink and the blue ring octopus lie next to him, outside its protective cage.
The blue ring octopus was brought to the local police station in an evidence box, but the impressionist movement succeeded in overcoming the authority of the police chief, and maintain the blue ring octopus to this day. It travels between museums in Cairo, Paris, New York, Madrid, Amstertam, and its original home of Eastern New Guinea. It is currently being resurfaced by ring octopus experts, but is due for display in the Lourve in May 2010. Read more!
