OCTOPUS HOUDINI: INKY’S IMPOSSIBLE ESCAPE FROM A NEW ZEALAND AQUARIUM
OCTOPUS HOUDINI: INKY’S IMPOSSIBLE ESCAPE FROM A NEW ZEALAND AQUARIUM
Ju
Octopus makes an unbelievable getaway from an aquarium back to the ocean
Determined to find his way to freedom, an octopus named Inky apparently broke out of his tank, slithered across an aquarium floor and slid through narrow drain pipe into to the ocean. The amazing stunt took place in the middle of the night at New Zealand’s national aquarium, after an employee apparently left the lid to the octopus’ tank slightly ajar. Staff believe Inky took the opportunity to climb up over the top of his glass enclosure, slide down the side of the tank and slither across 8 feet of flooring to a drainpipe that empties into the ocean.
If true, the boneless cephalopod would have had to squeeze his soccer-ball-sized head through over 160 feet of pipeline less than 6 inches in diameter. “Octopuses are fantastic escape artists,” Alix Harvey, an aquarist at the Marine Biological Association in England, told The New York TimesSource. “They are programmed to hunt prey at night and have a natural inclination to move around at night.” “They have a complex brain, have excellent eyesight, and research suggests they have an ability to learn and form mental maps.” Because of octopuses soft bodies they are able to fit into extremely small spaces, and have been filmed squeezing through gaps the size of coins.
