Inky the octopus escaped from a New Zealand aquarium three months ago by slipping out of his tank, slithering across the floor, and squeezing himself into a runoff pipe, aquarium officials announced Tuesday.
According to local news site Stuff.co.nz, the escape became evident when staff at the National Aquarium of New Zealand noticed that one of its enclosures that usually had two octopuses was down to one. The staff determined that Inky managed to slip through a small gap in the top of the tank enclosure.
The aquarium staff followed Inky's octopus tracks across a wet floor to a roughly six-inch pipe that led to Hawke's Bay. Robert Yarrell, manager at the National Aquarium, told Stuff that even though octopi are often the size of a rugby ball, the animals have the ability to squeeze through much smaller spaces.
"Octopus are very intelligent, very inquisitive and like to push the boundaries," Yarrell
told CNN. "This particular one was very friendly and intelligent and obviously found a weak spot in the top of his tank."
Yarrell told CNN that he thinks Inky is probably enjoying his new found freedom on the sea floor and that there will be no big search to find him.
"While he was with us, he would have learned a lot," Yarrell said to CNN. "He was the type that was inquisitive, and a bit wiser than we thought."
Inky's exploits were cheered by on my many on social media.
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