Parts of a whale skeleton, believed to be several hundred years old, have been uncovered on the Jurassic Coast in west Dorset.
Three sizable whale bones were excavated near the path at Hive Beach, Burton Bradstock, surprising local residents with the find.
Daryn Milbank, a landscaper with a keen interest in palaeontology and archaeology, spotted a large structure sticking out of the sand after a recent rockfall.
On closer inspection, he discovered that the bones were part of three connected vertebrae embedded deeply in the ground, requiring several hours to fully remove.
Daryn Milbank, Sue Hassel and friend with the discovery on Hive Beach
The 45-year-old said he was completely amazed by the discovery, which drew large crowds of local residents who helped extract it from the ground. He was also surprised that no other beachgoers had noticed it before.
Milbank then brought the bones to the Charmouth Heritage Coast Centre, where they were confirmed to be part of a whale’s backbone and could be several hundred years old.
The find occurred a week before Christmas.
“They are not small,” Mr Milbank said. “They are quite massive, about double the size of a frying pan.”
One of the vertebrae dug up from Hive Beach
“It took me about an hour and a half to uncover, to my amazement, the three large, connected whale vertebrae. The bones were mostly very hard and coloured dark chocolate brown and grey clay. Largely intact, there were some fractures, and small fragments came loose during extraction. However, they will be carefully reassembled for display in their original form.”
Mr Milbank is now seeking to identify the whale species and plans to collaborate with experts to determine the exact age of the fossils through carbon dating.
One of the vertebrae dug up from Hive Beach
Many discoveries of ancient fossils and bones are unearthed at Hive Beach and along the Jurassic coast, which are often discovered when parts of the cliff falls and leaves new territory exposed.
The geological history of the area is a major part of Dorset’s appeal, with thousands of tourists visiting every year that hunt for fossils along the coastline.
