An octo-minion sunned itself on the Vineyard’s southern sands. All eight of its tentacles fanned out from a pill-shaped head which contained a single large eye made of white shells, and a black pupil at its center. The creature wore a mischievous smirk, making for a perfect minion body. One of the tentacles held a half-peeled banana.

Spotted at South Beach: the rare octo-minion. — Mark Lovewell

The thing was made by British hands. The family who created octo-minion is vacationing on the Island this week and decided to enter the ninth annual Sand Sculpture Contest at South Beach. The competition called on creators of all ages to see who could craft the most impressive structure. Crafting began at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, judging was at 2 p.m., and awards were announced at 3 p.m.

Emily from London, age nine, was the mastermind of the creation. “It came to my mind that we should do animals and minions,” she explained, in a thick British accent.

“We created it on the fly,” Emily’s mother said. They decided on octo-minion because the original minion head kept collapsing. They put tentacles around it and the head stayed in place. They gave one tentacle a banana, because according to Emily, “all minions love bananas.” And, apparently, all people love minions.

Other sculptures weren’t as spontaneous. Felix, Jeanne and Alex began work on their masterpiece at 10 a.m., creating a scene that would have impressed Captain Jack Sparrow himself. The team sculpted a sea monster taking down a giant ship, which was held in place by a tarp hidden by the sand. To top it off, little fish swam around inside the “sea.”

Sometimes an actual castle is the way to go. — Mark Alan Lovewell

Felix held his head high as he kept watch over his creation. “And my sister wanted to do mermaids,” he scoffed.

Despite Felix’s indignation, there were a few admirable mermaids sun-bathing on the beach. Eight year old Megan from Kansas was industrious. A few days ago she saw a flier in downtown Edgartown for the competition, and decided to start brainstorming. “I found a lot of Barbies and mermaids,” she said. And so began her solo creation of mermaids and Barbies mingling around a castle.

The “KB Vikings,” consisting of Thor (10), Saga (12) and Sunna (14), are vacationing here from Iceland. They thought “there wouldn’t be a hippo on Martha’s Vineyard,” so they made one out of sand basking in the shade of an orange umbrella.

The Sand Sculpture Competition was open to juniors and adults. Twelve juniors and nine adults entered. Accessories were allowed. The event was sponsored by the Edgartown Board of Trade. Katama General Store donated the prizes for the winners and Winnetu Resort handled the setup and logistics.

A mermaid washes ashore. — Mark Alan Lovewell

While octo-minion was busy getting its tan on, Janice Donaroma admired each sand sculpture from beneath her red sun hat. In 2004, Ms. Donaroma was on the Edgartown Board of Trade and the board felt they needed to create more beach-oriented, organized fun. “Hmm, I think I could do that,” she thought, and so began the tradition of sand sculpting.

A few years ago, Ms. Donaroma handed down her position as chief of the competition to Tammy Csapo. As activities director at Winnetu Resort, Ms. Csapo is an expert at fun. This year, she and Phil Hughes from Wheel Happy Bike Shop were the powerhouses behind the event.

Ms. Danorama’s favorite part of what she’s created is the atmosphere of creativity. Her least: judging.

“There are so many good ones!” she said.

Sandcat. — Mark Lovewell

And the winners are:

People’s Choice

Junior: The Whyte Family, Sandcastle: The Good Shipwreck Lollipop

Adult: The Hernandez Family, Sandcastle: The Hippo

Juniors

1st: The Whyte Family, Sandcastle: The Good Shipwreck Lollipop

2nd: Lilliana Parker, Sandcastle: Martha’s Vineyard Island

3rd: Georgia Parker, Sandcastle: Killer Octopus

Adults

1st: The Hernandez Family, Sandcastle: The Hippo

2nd: Nina Gordon, Sandcastle: The Sea Monster

3rd: Elizabeth Girian, Sandcastle: Cecil the Lion