Inky the Octopus

A World Class Escape Artist

Back in April of 2016 an octopus named “Inky” escaped his tank in the National Aquarium of New Zealand in Napier and made it out to sea, and freedom. This is perhaps one of the greatest stories of forging one’s independence there ever was. 

The breakout,

which has captured the imagination of New Zealanders and made headlines around the world, apparently began when Inky slipped through a small gap at the top of his tank, likely left open during routine maintenance.

Octopus tracks suggest he then maneuvered himself twelve feet across the floor and slid down a 164-foot-long drainpipe via a drain hole about six inches in diameter that dropped him into Hawke’s Bay, on the east coast of North Island, according to reports in New Zealand’s news media.

Not Unhappy, exactly

Rob Yarrell, national manager of the National Aquarium of New Zealand in Napier, said: “Inky really tested the waters here. I don’t think he was unhappy with us, or lonely, as octopus are solitary creatures. But he is such a curious boy. He would want to know what’s happening on the outside. That’s just his personality.”

The aquarium’s keepers noticed Inky’s escape when they came to work and discovered that he was not in his tank. A less independence-minded octopus, Blotchy, remained behind.

An annotated series of photos showing how ‘Inky’ the octopus escaped from his tank at the National Aquarium in New Zealand and into the sea via a drainpipe. Photograph: National Aquarium, New Zealand

It is very likely that Inky observed his surroundings and planned his escape. Octopuses are extremely intelligent. Noted Alix Harvey, an aquarist at the Marine Biological Association in England, “Octopuses are fantastic escape artists,” she said. “They are programmed to hunt prey at night and have a natural inclination to move around at night.”

Exceptional Intelligence

She continued, “They have a complex brain, have excellent eyesight, and research suggests they have an ability to learn and form mental maps.” She went on to note that octopuses, members of a class of marine animals including squid and cuttlefish called Cephalopoda, have shown themselves to be adept at escaping through spaces as small as a coin, constrained only by their beaks, the only inflexible part of their bodies.

Ms. Harvey said that octopuses had also been documented opening jars and sneaking through tiny holes on boats, and that they could deflect predators by spraying an ink that lingers in the water and acts as a decoy. Some have been seen hauling coconut shells to build underwater shelters.

Another example of octopus ingenuity occurred at the Island Bay marine education centre in Wellington, where an octopus was found to be in the habit of visiting another tank overnight to steal crabs, then returning to its own.

In the case of Inky and his great escape, Aquarium staff weren’t even mad — they admired his intelligence and “great exploratory spirit.”

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With contributions from The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/13/the-great-escape-inky-the-octopus-legs-it-to-freedom-from-new-zealand-aquarium

And the New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/14/world/asia/inky-octopus-new-zealand-aquarium.html