Octopus escapes from New Zealand aquarium

An octopus has reportedly escaped from a New Zealand aquarium after crawling out of his tank and making a slippery dash down a drainpipe into the sea.

Inky the octopus channelled his inner Steve McQueen when he sensed an opening at the top of his tank at the National Aquarium in Napier, staff told Hawke's Bay Today.

In the dead of night, he is thought to have slithered across the floor and slid down a 50m-long drainpipe into the free waters of Hawke's Bay.

Aquarium manager Rob Yarrell said Inky, who is about the size of a rugby ball, "had always been a bit of a surprise octopus."

"Octopuses are famous escape artists but Inky really tested the waters here," he told The Guardian.

"I don’t think he was unhappy with us, or lonely, as octopi are solitary creatures. But he is such a curious boy, he would want to know what’s happening on the outside. That’s just his personality."

He dismissed the possibility Inky had been stolen, and said the aquarium were now "increasingly aware of what octopuses can actually do".

"You never know, there’s always a chance Inky could come home to us," Mr Yarrell said.