The Etches Collection, Kimmeridge, Dorset: visit to see the newly displayed pliosaur skull

[ceratopsian]

The story of the pliosaur began here in this thread:

https://dinotoyblog.com/forum/index.php?topic=11186.20

But it seems appropriate to add these snaps here in the Museum board.  The new pliosaur was revealed to the world in the David Attenborough documentary, shown here in the UK at New Year and, I believe, just shown in the USA. Of course there was a lot of furore about the BBC's initial failure to credit the finder, Philip Jacobs, prominently.  However, in the end I suspect this was a case of there is no such thing as bad publicity, and it's almost certainly worked in the museum's favour by raising public awareness.

We decided to make a short trip down to Dorset so we could see the pliosaur before the museum closes from Monday 19th February until 25 March.  It has won a grant to replace some of its cabinets with fully air-tight and atmosphere-controlled cases, which are necessary because of the pyrite component to Kimmeridge fossils (from what I understood).  The work should have been done last autumn but sadly for the museum, the contracting firm rearranged their schedule.  The problem with going last week was that it was half term - which we'd forgotten when we booked our hotel.  So we expected it to be extremely busy.  Not least because I had seen an article in a local newspaper, the Swanage News, that there had been at 2400% increase on visitor numbers over January since the fossil went on display.  In little over a month the museum had had more than 12,000 visitors, whereas in the whole of 2023 they had seen only 17,500 visitors.  The museum needs 20,000 visitors a year to balance its books, but what with Covid followed by the cost of living crisis, that hasn't been happening of late.

The drawback to 400 visitors a day arriving at the museum is that it has a small car park and it's in a small village with a typical narrow English rural street.  Parking cones have been set out to help residents and emergency vehicles get through and there were two parking wardens directing people where to go or telling them there was no space.  The restaurant opposite allows parking on its land – otherwise you need to hike up from the beach car park, a fair trek especially if you had young children.  Anyway we arrived 20 minutes before opening time and all was fine.  I breathed a sigh of relief!  There were already a couple of parents with super excited children, one of whom (very young!) had to be restrained from hammering on the glass while his elder siblings counted down in seconds to opening time.

It's a small museum – just a single room of displays.  But they're very good displays – beautifully labelled, arranged with care and logic, and informative.  Although the room was very full, there was no problem at all getting good views of the new star attraction.  I actually enjoyed seeing the excitement and hearing the questions the children were posing to their parents and the museum staff.  That is how new palaeontologists are created! 

Anyway here's a couple of snaps.  The film (and my snaps) didn't really give a true impression of its size.  It's massive when you see it in person.







And of course I bought the accompanying little booklet:



The museum is currently running a crowd funding campaign to raise money to excavate the post-cranial fossil this summer.  I made a donation – they need all the money they can get, no matter how small the amount.  It's difficult to estimate the cost of extraction, as it depends on how difficult it proves to get the right permissions, which involves expenses such as surveys and in worst case scenario legal costs.  Let's hope the appropriate bodies give their approval without making any fuss or undue demands.  If anyone wants the link, here it is:

https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/searex

[DinoToyForum]

Thanks for sharing!

[UK]

Looks great. I have been planning for weeks to nip down there this Wednesday, only to see they are shut from tomorrow for a month. Typical. But it's only 30 minutes down the road so I will go another day.

[ceratopsian]

Good job you checked, @UK! At least it's not too far at all for you.

Looks great. I have been planning for weeks to nip down there this Wednesday, only to see they are shut from tomorrow for a month. Typical. But it's only 30 minutes down the road so I will go another day.

[triceratops83]

Great photos! God, look at those teeth, imagine that comin' at ya!

[ceratopsian]

And at an estimated 30 miles an hour....

Great photos! God, look at those teeth, imagine that comin' at ya!

[Halichoeres]

Amazing. Thanks for sharing your photos and your story!

[UK]

Finally popped down to the Museum and was lucky enough to bump into Steve and had a lovely conversation with him. He had a great mid Dorset accent too.

Was in awe with what he and others have collected in Kimmeridge. It's a small friendly exhibit but it's contents are world class.

Kimmeridge was chilly for a summers day with a very strong wind blowing from the sea. Had a nosey near the cliffs but there were a number of warnings out due to potential rock falls.

Steve was kind enough to have a photo with me too.