Otters and Science News: HOW AN AQUARIUM OCTOPUS MADE HIS ESCAPE TO THE OCEAN by squeezing out of a gap in his tank, sliding across the floor and slipping into a pipe that led to the ocean

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Inky the Octopus's Great Escape: Cephalod makes amazing break from New Zealand aquarium by squeezing out of a gap in his tank, sliding across the floor and slipping into a pipe that led to the ocean

Inky the octopus escapes from National Aquarium in Napier New Zealand

Continue reading about Inky's daring escape, and see more images

It was a daring escape in the middle of night that saw Inky the octopus make a successful dash for freedom from his tank to the Pacific Ocean.

The male octopus squeezed himself out of the aquarium after staff left the lid slightly ajar at the National Aquarium in Napier, a coastal city on New Zealand’s North Island.

He managed to crawl his way down the side of the tank and slid across the floor, before squeezing into a 150 mm drainage pipe that led to the nearby ocean, reported NZ Herald.

Manager Rob Yarrell said octopuses were famous for escaping their enclosures, but Inky's getaway was remarkable.

‘The lid had been left just slightly ajar, just slightly, and he found this rather tempting, climbed out, and was able to make his way across the floor,’ said Mr Yarrell.

‘Now being an aquarium we have drains dotted all over the place in case of large leaks or spillages or things like that and we draw water from the ocean we use it and then we send it back again.

‘He managed to make his way to one of the drain holes that go back to the ocean and off he went, didn’t even leave us a message.’

'Octopus are really intelligent animals, very inquisitive, and they also tend to explore whenever they get the chance,' he told MediaWorks' Newshub.

One of two octopuses in residence, Inky - who is approximately the size of a rugby ball - has been very popular with staff and the public after arriving in 2014.

Inky was made a member of the aquarium family after a fisherman and a staff member rescued him from a crayfish pot that was set up at a nearby reef.

But since the escape, staff members are now on alert, watching the second octopus in residence.

‘They can fit through very, very small spaces even quiet a large octopus they can squeeze down to the size of their mouth which is the only really hard part of their body,’ said Mr Yarrell.

Staff members dismissed the possibility that Inky could have been stolen as they followed the trail of water the sea creature had left behind.