Offbeat | NZ: So long, suckers! Inky the octopus makes an amazing escape

Inky the octopus waited until it was dark and the staff had gone home from the National Aquarium of New Zealand before making his move.
He squeezed and pushed his way through a tiny gap in the mesh at the top of his tank and slithered 2 meters to the floor. Then he made a beeline across the room to a drain hole.
With a body the size of a rugby ball, Inky managed to stretch out and squeeze into the hole. From there, he shimmied down the 50-meter pipe until he was back in the Pacific Ocean.
All he left behind three months ago was a slimy trail, allowing staff at the Napier aquarium to re-create his amazing escape. He’s not been seen since.
Inky’s story begins on Pania Reef, several hundred meters out to sea from the aquarium. He was pulled up by a fisherman in a lobster pot and wasn’t in good shape. He’d been attacked, probably by a snapper or some other fish, and a couple of his tentacles were half their normal length.
After a year recuperating at the National Aquarium, said manager Rob Yarrall, Inky was once again in good health. And he’d been delighting the staff with his intelligence.