HENRICO COUNTY, Va. — An 8-year-old Henrico boy with a passion for octopuses has the chance to win $20,000 and a special adventure with Ranger Rick magazine through a national contest — and he needs your help.
Finn Gulick, who describes himself as a future "YouTuber, scuba diver, octopus king," has been fascinated with the eight-armed sea creatures since he was a toddler.
“When I spawned into the world, I just, for some reason, knew about octopus,” Finn said.
Finn’s mom, Ashley, said frequent visits to the Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center in Virginia Beach helped spark his passion.
“By the age of two, everything was octopus and scuba and it has not let up,” Ashley states.
When Ashley came across a contest to appear in Ranger Rick magazine, they signed Finn up. Through votes online, he’s currently in first place in his group. The winner gets $20,000 — but Finn isn't focused on the money.
“All I know is that if I win the contest, I get to go meet [Jeff Corwin] and go on an adventure,” Finn said.
Ashley says Finn mentioned possibly using some of the money to help the aquarium get his favorite animal.
“They have a habitat waiting for a Giant Pacific Octopus but they have yet to either finalize the funding or acquire a giant octopus so that tank’s been lonely for a long time. Finn has been waiting since he’s been three to have an octopus in his state he can go and visit,” Ashley said.
Finn has plenty of other ideas for what he would do with the prize money.
“Definitely get an octopus for myself. Might get a boy and girl and they might make babies. If I feed them stuff, they might grow up and then I’d have an army and I can release them into the ocean. Or I also might use them to snatch food; junk food, hamburgers, cotton candy. All that type of stuff, ” Finn says.
The National Wildlife Federation uses the Junior Ranger Competition to raise money. Voting is available for free once a day, but you can get more votes by making a donation.
“Can you guys please vote for me? I really want that octopus. I just need this money to change the world,” Finn says.
Click here to vote for Finn. Voting for group finalists ends at 10 p.m. on Thursday.
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