tank was empty, I was really surprised,” said Yarrell, who has not launched a search for Inky. “The staff and I have been pretty sad. But then, this is Inky and he’s always been a bit of a surprise octopus.” Reiss Jenkinson, exhibits keeper at the National Aquarium, said he was absolutely certain Inky had not been taken. “I understand the nature of octopus behaviour very well,” he said. “I have seen octopuses on boats slip through bilge pumps. And, the security here is too tight for anyone to take Inky and why would they?” Because octopuses have no bones, they are able to fit into extremely small spaces and have been filmed squeezing through gaps the size of coins. They are also understood to be extremely intelligent and capable of using tools. At the Island Bay Marine Education Centre in Wellington, an octopus was found to be in the habit of visiting another tank overnight to steal crabs, then returning to its own. Another at the centre, Ozymandias, was thought to have broken a world record for opening a jar before it was released into the ocean. Inky was brought to the National Aquarium a number of years ago by a local fisherman who found him caught in a crayfish pot. He was scarred and “rough looking”, with shortened limbs, said Yarrell. “He had been living on the reef and fighting with fish so he wasn’t in the best shape.” According to Yarrell,