Jasper Taylor, 7, found the octopus on Breakwater Beach, Napier. Photo / Warren Buckland
Could an octopus sighting on a Napier beach be the return of Inky?
More than four years after Inky's daring escape from the New Zealand's National Aquarium, Jasper Taylor discovered an octopus trying to make its way on to land.
Inky made global headlines after it was believed to have escaped its Napier enclosure through a drain, about 150mm in diameter, which led to the sea in April, 2016.
Jasper, 7, found the octopus on Breakwater Beach, Ahuriri, when looking for cat's eye shells on Sunday morning.
"We found the octopus underneath a rock on the shore," he said. "It was pretty exciting, as I've never seen anything like it before.
"It seemed to be just having a chill on the beach."
Jasper, who found the octopus with his mother Claire Taylor and friend Katy Kenah, is a pupil at Port Ahuriri School.
National Aquarium of New Zealand general manager Rachel Haydon said the octopus was likely hunting for food.
"It is not uncommon for octopus, particularly those that live near the rocky shore, to haul themselves out of the water at low tide in search of prey, such as crabs or shellfish," she said.
"Octopus have incredible eyesight, in addition to being able to feel their way around with their tentacles, and are very efficient hunters.
"They can clear a rock pool of food and move on to the next one, sometimes even dragging their prey back to their lair to eat."
Taylor said she was less hands-on with the eight-limbed mollusc than her son.
"We were slightly worried because the tide was going out, so there wasn't a whole lot of water left," she said.
"A couple of people had a little touch, but I was too scared. It moved quite fast, so I ran back on to the beach."
She added: "As soon as we saw it we thought it could be the octopus that escaped from the aquarium."
Haydon said octopus only live an average of three years, so the aquarium believes it is unlikely to be Inky.
"These are truly remarkable creatures and the aquarium remembers our own Inky the octopus fondly," she said.
Jasper said the octopus eventually made its way from under the rock and towards the water.
"It ended up going further out so we went back to playing and looking for shells," he said.
Haydon added: "It is more likely you could see them at this time of year, as you're unlikely to see this in the hot Hawke's Bay summer sun, as that could dry them out."
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