A public aquarium in New Zealand is missing one of its residents, after an octopus clambered from his tank and made his away across the floor overnight. It's thought he then slipped into a drainpipe that leads directly to the sea.
Inky, a common New Zealand octopus, made his escape when the lid of his enclosure was left slightly open by staff at the National Aquarium of New Zealand. Octopus are renowned for their Houdini-like behaviour and they are able to squeeze their soft bodies through the smallest of gaps.
No trace of the missing octopus has been found, and staff believe he made it into a 50m-long drainpipe, which opens on to Hawke’s Bay, on the east coast of New Zealand’s North Island.
Inky arrived at the National Aquarium several years ago after a local fisherman found him caught in a crayfish pot.
Rob Yarrell, manager of the aquarium, says Inky is an 'unusually intelligent' octopus. "He is such a curious boy. He would want to know what’s happening on the outside. That’s just his personality."
Staff are certain that Inky has escaped rather than being stolen as they say that security at the aquarium is very tight.