I'm Inspired By This Octopus Who Escaped to the Ocean

By Joanna Rothkopf | April 13, 2016 | 3:50pm

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When we were children, we were taught that if we work hard, we can achieve anything we put our minds to. Inky, a New Zealand octopus, worked very hard and achieved the ultimate goal: freedom.

According to the website Stuff, Inky, who was a resident at the National Aquarium in Napier, one day said to himself, “Enough is enough,” and resolved to build a life for himself that didn’t revolve around tourists and regular feeding times. So, Inky made a daring escape.

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The aquarium’s manager Rob Yarrall said that octopi are quite stretchy, making his escape more understandable.

“They can fit through very, very small spaces, even quite a large octopus, they can squeeze down to the size of their mouth which is the only really hard part of their body,” Yarrall told RNZ. “It’s a beak, very much like a parrot beak.”

After aquarium employees noticed he was missing about three months ago, they followed remaining octopus tracks which provide hints about his journey: apparently, he squeezed through a little gap in the top of his enclosure, slopped across the floor, and squeezed his rugby ball-sized body into a 150 mm drain that led to the ocean. Beautiful.

“Off he went,” Yarrall continued, “and he didn’t even leave us a message.”

Good luck, Inky, I hope you find what you’re looking for.