COLOURFUL creatures from the deep are continuing to make a splash in north Essex.

Octopus Ahoy! is a community art event being run by KAT Marketing and Tendring Council, marking 400 years since the journey of the Mayflower from Harwich and 150 years since Clacton’s formation.

Your Gazette is an official media partner of the summer spectacular, which features octopus sculptures dotted throughout Essex.

Members of the public can download the Octopus Ahoy! app, which is free on iPhone and Android.

Then follow a public art trail to win prizes for scanning the octopuses, which are hidden in streets, parks and open spaces.

Clacton and Frinton Gazette: Water you think about this? - CJ the mascot with Lili Talbott, in Manningtree

Water you think about this? - CJ the mascot with Lili Talbott, in Manningtree

So far there have more than 7,000 unique downloads of the Octopus Ahoy! app.

There have been over 50,000 unlocked rewards and 77, 677 collective octopus finds. In total, participants have taken more than 17 million steps!

Octopirate, designed by artist Deven Bhurke and located at Clacton's Pier Gap, is the the most scanned individual octopus so far with over 2,000 individual QR scans.

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