Cops out, deployed to find sea creature (7)
I believe the answer is:
octopus
'sea creature' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'cops out deployed' is the wordplay.
'deployed' indicates anagramming the letters.
'cops'+'out'='copsout'
'copsout' with letters rearranged gives 'OCTOPUS'.
'to find' is the link.
(Other definitions for octopus that I've seen before include "Cop-outs (anag.)" , "Eight-armed mollusc" , "Influential person" , "Eight-armed cephalopod" , "Eight-limbed mollusc" .)