WASHINGTON — The National Zoo’s Giant Pacific Octopus finally has a name — Pandora.
But the octopus didn’t choose its own name like was hoped when four names were put in its tank.
For whatever reason, the natural explorer opted not to select the objects that contained four potential names. Instead, a blindfolded animal keeper randomly retrieved one with a net.
The four names — Pandora, Mirage, Inkling and Odysseus — were finalists in a contest by The Washington Post’s KidPost. Kids between five and 15 submitted more than 300 entries for the contest.
“The staff selected names that were followed by clever descriptions that highlighted the unique characteristics and mysterious nature of our octopus,” says Alan Peters, curator of the National Zoo’s Invertebrate Exhibit.
Trinity Kimberly, 10, of Sterling submitted the winning name.
“I’m very excited because they chose my name and it’ll be a good name for this octopus. They described the octopus as curious and Pandora means curious,” she said.
While Pandora is a female name, the National Zoo says it’s not yet known what sex the 1 1/2-year-old octopus is.
The zoo says the new octopus will ultimately help the zoo learn more about the intelligence of the octopus and how to encourage its behaviors.
You can see the octupus at the National Zoo’s Invertebrate Exhibit between 10 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. every day. The octopus gets fed between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.
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