An extraordinary discovery was made by walkers on the far end of Hurst Spit two weeks ago…, the group of friends were out for a hike by the sea when they found some bone remnants jutting out from the shingle. Amazingly, these bones have now been identified as being from the skeleton of a 900 million year old dinosaur.
The tide at Hurst Castle is known for occasionally dredging up strange items. To this day WW2 armoury shells that had been fired into The Solent from what was a WW2 testing site near The Needles on the the Isle Wight occasionally appear on the beach. - But, there has never been a find like this before.
Palaeontologists from the British Museum are currently excavating the find site close to Hurst Castle.
Since the discovery, crowds are regularly gathering to witness more of the remains being uncovered during the excavation, and an influx of fossil enthusiasts are getting very excited every time a new bone is revealed.
A Milford on Sea local café owner said they were very pleased to see an increase in trade, particularly refills of Thermos flasks for the intrepid fossil hunters. One has even started selling takeaway burgers creatively renamed as ‘Brontosaurus Baps’.
Leading the archaeological project is eminent palaeontologist, Dr Ivor Dugit said; “I have excavated numerous dinosaur remains from the Jurassic period, and this one is in excellent condition. We can even tell it was a particularly attractive one from the remnants of the eyelashes”.
The species of dinosaur discovered has now been identified as a 'Jokasaurus’, a little know member of the ‘Fakapod’ family. When roaming the earth the dinosaur would have had a long tail and neck along with an unusual structure of four legs all of different sizes.
The Parish Council are now in discussion with the British Museum to establish what will happen to the remains once they are fully excavated. There are proposals to encase the shortest leg from the dinosaur in a Perspex case on the village green as a constant reminder of the village’s Jurassic history.
Long-term Milford on Sea resident, Diddy Fallforrit commented; “I’m not sure what all the fuss is about, my bones are over ninety years old and apart from my osteopath and the nurse that gets me up each morning, no one is really interested in them.“
