An octopus is a hard thing to keep cooped up. Even the slightest sign of an exit and an octopus will make it's getaway (car or not). The National Aquarium of New Zealand saw this first hand when one of its octopuses named Inky escaped his tank in the middle of the night.

The incident happened over three months ago during a maintenance cleaning, however the aquarium has just recently released information about the escape.

Inky's tank lid had been left slightly open, leaving just enough space for him to squish and squeeze his way out. Once freed, he crossed the floor to a 6-inch drain pipe exiting into the Pacific Ocean. Staff came in the next morning to find Inky's tank empty, and water trailing from the tank to the drain pipe.

"He didn't even leave us a message," aquarium manager Rob Yarrell lamented.

Inky's daring escape was due to that minor oversight of the cleaning staff earlier in the day. According to The Cephalopod Page, "Octopuses have very little hard material in their bodies, only a beak and a radula in most, enabling them to squeeze into or through amazingly small spaces." This means that neglecting tank security is a very big deal when handling octopuses, even though a normal fish tank is no big deal.

"They are always exploring and they are great escape artists," Yarrell noted.

Although Inky shared his tank with another octopus named Blotchy, the aquarium will miss him dearly. Inky was described as very inquisitive and friendly, and he had a personality that Blotchy, the smaller octopus just doesn't have.

It has been said that staff are keeping an eye on the other octopus so no similar escape attempts occur.

Octopuses are 'escape artists,' and if you don't keep a very keen eye on them and take care of them properly, you are bound to lose them.