A TWO metre long mammoth tusk has been discovered off the coast of Mersea Island.

The remarkable find, about a kilometre off Coopers Beach, was made possible due to the exceptionally low tide.

Members of CITiZAN, the coastal and intertidal zone archaeological network, joined forces with volunteers from the island for a field walk to see what was out there.

At about 7.30am today a group noticed the sunken ivory tusk and excitement grew.

Project manager Stephanie Ostrich explained: "We were out early today because we knew it would be a low tide for the year.

"We thought we might see something special further out so organised a group and volunteers to see if we could find something we have not seen before.

"And we have never seen this before.

"We walked out for about a kilometre and a group of us saw it.

"It is about two metres long and definitely a tusk.

"It was so exciting."

The group quickly realised it was too large to be anything else and have taken several pictures and noted the location.

The tusk is too fragile to move but more research will now be carried out.

Ms Ostrich runs projects across the country for CITiZAN from a London base and with support from the Museum of London Archaeology.

She said: "It is a very exciting landscape in Essex.

"In the last Ice Age there were glaciers over Britain and Europe and they kind of stop around here."

Information about the discovery on the spit, an area of gravel on clay bedrock, will be checked and verified.

CITiZAN exists to highlight the threat to a wealth of coastal and estuarine sites, most of which have no statutory protection.

There is an established infrastructure and network of volunteers dedicated to discovering, monitoring and promoting the significant, fragile and threatened archaeological sites around England’s coast and on the foreshores of our tidal estuaries.

Mammoths are understood to have roamed from about five million years ago to 4,500 years ago.

The period of time commonly referred to as the Ice Age, but in reality one of many, reached its peak about 18,000 years ago, it is believed.