Octopus slips out of aquarium tank, crawls across floor, escapes down pipe to ocean

[KamaAina]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/animalia/wp/2016/04/13/octopus-slips-out-of-aquarium-tank-crawls-across-floor-escapes-down-pipe-to-ocean/

Inky the octopus didn’t even try to cover his tracks.

By the time the staff at New Zealand’s National Aquarium noticed that he was missing, telltale suction cup prints were the main clue to an easily-solved mystery.

Inky had said see ya to his tank-mate, slipped through a gap left by maintenance workers at the top of his enclosure and, as evidenced by the tracks, made his way across the floor to a six-inch-wide drain. He squeezed his football-sized body in — octopuses are very malleable, aquarium manager Rob Yarrall told the New Zealand website Stuff — and made a break for the Pacific.

“He managed to make his way to one of the drain holes that go back to the ocean. And off he went,” Yarrall told Radio New Zealand. “And he didn’t even leave us a message.”

Watch your back, Spider-Man! Doc Oc is on the loose!

[In_The_Wind]

1. Way to go Inky!

LLAP

[irisblue]

2. Inkys' message was....see ya!

Did they show Finding Nemo @ the aquarium?

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

19. What, no bowl ...

... inscribed "So long, and thanks for all the fish"?

[cyberswede]

3. Now what?

[HuckleB]

4. Nicely done!

[Oneironaut]

5. Obviously a master of lock Kraken

[Gore1FL]

18. +1

[In_The_Wind]

6. Walk this way ...

[Thor_MN]

7. Shawshank Aquarium

Ellis Boyd "Red Snapper" Redding: I must admit I didn't think much of Inky first time I laid eyes on him; looked like a stiff breeze would blow him over. That was my first impression.

Sometimes it makes me sad, though... Inky being gone. I have to remind myself that some cephalopods aren't meant to be caged. Their chromatophores are just too bright. And when they go away, the part of you that knows it was a sin to lock them up DOES rejoice. But still, the place you live in is that much more drab and empty that they're gone. I guess I just miss my friend.

[mdbl]

9. lol

[BlancheSplanchnik]

16. !!!!!

[That Guy 888]

22. Lol, very well done.

[tclambert]

8. True facts about the octopus:

[gregcrawford]

11. BRILLIANT!

Thank you for that one.

[tavernier]

17. Priceless!!

Clams are stupid. I'm sorry, I said it.

[A Little Weird]

21. Awesome video!

[lagomorph777]

10. If any species can survive the Anthropocene Apocalypse, it will be octopi

and they will inherit the Earth and travel to the stars. And remember us as those nasty monkeys.

[lunatica]

20. Aren't they one of the advanced races in Star Wars?

And I'm pretty sure there was one in the band in the bar in the first Star Wars.

[erpowers]

12. Not Buying This

I may be very wrong, but I am not buying this story. Yes, fact is stranger than fiction; however, I do not think things happened as explained. I think someone got a little hungry and ate the little fellow. That person then told a sweet story in order to cover their butt.

[Frank Cannon]

13. Yeah, I'm not buying it, either.

The six-inch open drain hole in the aquarium floor makes me skeptical. Maybe New Zealand doesn't have an entity like OSHA. Seems fishy to me, though.

[KamaAina]

24. They're not fish, dammit! They're invertebrates!

[tclambert]

14. Octopi are brilliant escape artists:

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

15. I believe it. Octopodes are scary smart.

At least for invertebrates.

[catbyte]

23. My hero!!!