--- title: Octopus Escapes National Aquarium of New Zealand description: Inky the Octopus has escaped from the National Aquarium of New Zealand canonical: https://time.com/4291327/inky-octopus-new-zealand-national-aquarium-escape/ author: Olivia B. Waxman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-04-12T21:30:06.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:31:34.901Z og:title: Sneaky Octopus Escapes From New Zealand Aquarium og:description: Inky the Octopus has escaped from the National Aquarium of New Zealand og:url: https://time.com/4291327/inky-octopus-new-zealand-national-aquarium-escape/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Sneaky Octopus Escapes From New Zealand Aquarium twitter:description: Inky the Octopus has escaped from the National Aquarium of New Zealand twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Sneaky Octopus Escapes From New Zealand Aquarium > Sponsored content. 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The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically.  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Apr 12, 2016 9:30 PM UTC  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Apr 12, 2016 9:30 PM UTC A male octopus named Inky recently made an _ink_redible escape from the National Aquarium of New Zealand. During a routine tank check, it slipped out of its enclosure when its lid was slightly ajar, scooched across the floor, and squeezed through a drain pipe that led to the Pacific Ocean, Rob Yarrell, manager of the aquarium in Napier, told the [New Zealand Herald](http://www.nzherald.co.nz/hawkes-bay-today/news/article.cfm?c%5Fid=1503462&objectid=11621234) and [Radio New Zealand](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSUZi%5F6oQOc). Staffers learned it had gone missing when they spotted the trail of water that the sea creature left behind. The incident happened a few months ago, but the news is only coming out now, according to [Radio New Zealand](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSUZi%5F6oQOc). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4291327/inky-octopus-new-zealand-national-aquarium-escape/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4291327/inky-octopus-new-zealand-national-aquarium-escape/"},"headline":"Sneaky Octopus Escapes From New Zealand Aquarium","datePublished":"2016-04-12T21:30:06.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:31:34.901Z","description":"Just wanted to be under the sea","url":"https://time.com/4291327/inky-octopus-new-zealand-national-aquarium-escape/","keywords":["Newsfeed","animals"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Olivia B. 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