The Octopus That Picked the Lock

In 2016, a small aquarium in New Zealand had a problem. One of their octopuses, called Inky, had disappeared from his tank. There was no broken glass. No alarms had gone off. The staff arrived in the morning, and Inky was simply gone.

Mwaka wa elfu mbili na kumi na sita, hifadhi ndogo ya samaki huko New Zealand ilikuwa na tatizo. Mmoja wa pweza wao, aliyeitwa Inky, alikuwa amepotea kutoka kwenye tangi lake. Hapakuwa na kioo kilichovunjika. Hakuna kengele iliyolia. Wafanyakazi walipofika asubuhi, Inky alikuwa amekwisha kutoweka.

After looking around the room, they finally found the answer. Inky had pushed open the top of his tank during the night. He had then dragged his body across the floor to a small drain pipe that led out to the ocean. He squeezed inside the pipe, slid through eight feet of metal, and came out in the sea. By morning, he was free.

Baada ya kuangalia chumba kizima, hatimaye walipata jibu. Inky alikuwa amesukuma wazi kifuniko cha juu cha tangi lake wakati wa usiku. Kisha alijikokota kwenye sakafu hadi kwenye bomba dogo la maji lililoelekea baharini. Alijibana ndani ya bomba hilo, akateleza futi nane kupitia chuma, na akatokea baharini. Kufikia asubuhi, alikuwa huru.

What is incredible is not just what Inky did, but what it means. Octopuses are some of the smartest animals on Earth. They have about 500 million neurons, similar to the brain of a dog. Most of those neurons are not in the head but spread through their arms. Each arm can almost think for itself.

Jambo la kushangaza si tu alichokifanya Inky, bali maana yake. Pweza ni miongoni mwa wanyama wenye akili zaidi duniani. Wana takriban seli za neva milioni mia tano, sawa na ubongo wa mbwa. Seli hizo nyingi hazipo kichwani bali zimeenea kwenye mikono yao. Kila mkono unaweza karibu kufikiri peke yake.

In labs around the world, octopuses have learned to open jars by turning the lid. They can solve puzzles to reach a piece of crab inside a box. Some have remembered the faces of specific researchers and squirted water at the ones they did not like.

Katika maabara duniani kote, pweza wamejifunza kufungua mitungi kwa kuzungusha kifuniko. Wanaweza kutatua fumbo ili kufikia kipande cha kaa kilichowekwa ndani ya sanduku. Wengine wamekumbuka nyuso za watafiti fulani na kuwarushia maji wale wasiowapenda.

Scientists still do not fully understand how octopus intelligence works. It evolved separately from ours, more than 500 million years ago. It is, in a way, the closest thing we have to meeting an alien mind on this planet.

Wanasayansi bado hawajaelewa kikamilifu jinsi akili ya pweza inavyofanya kazi. Ilijitokeza kwa njia tofauti na ya kwetu, zaidi ya miaka milioni mia tano iliyopita. Kwa namna fulani, ndicho kitu cha karibu zaidi tulichonacho cha kukutana na akili ya kigeni katika sayari hii.

Inky was never seen again. The aquarium replaced him, but they made the new tank much harder to escape from.

Inky hakuwahi kuonekana tena. Hifadhi hiyo ilimbadilisha, lakini walifanya tangi jipya kuwa gumu zaidi kutorokea.