How to find fossils at Charmouth beach - Kid friendly fossil collecting from The Fossil Academy

A short video for the families wanting to go collecting fossils on the world famous Charmouth beach! No Hammers required! Learn what to look out for and some good places to start your hunting.

[@BeansOnToast01]

Also I don't think it's just me, but I find it fascinating that for example, if you break open a rock and there is a fossil in it you are the FIRST PERSON EVER to see that fossil for MILLIONS OF YEARS. And that is mad

[@jacklondon7801]

Dan mate, ive just spent four days fossil hunting in the jurassic coast. Your tip about looking for patches of pyrite worked a treat. There are some big, whole ones to be found aswell! Found a couple of ichthyosaur vertibrae at black ven and checked out some clay flats at low tide.

[@TheFossilAcademy]

Jack London that’s awesome dude! Gets so addictive when you find some good ones

[@jacklondon7801]

I was thinking. Seeing as the jurassic coast used to be a shallow, tropical sea and not that far from land. Could it be that it it used to be a nursary for ichthyosaurs? (one of my vertibrae was from a baby). And the bigger temnodontosaurs came in from the deeper oceans to hunt them. But the smaller ichthyosaurs were lightning quick and could hide in the corals/or bolt into the shallows where big predators couldnt follow.

[@TheFossilAcademy]

Jack London I’d say that’s a good assumption, the amount of juvenile beasties and ichthyosaurs that have been found with babies still inside would lend credit to this hypothesis

[@RevGav]

Did you work up that ammonite you found in the block of stoney stuff?

[@TheFossilAcademy]

Still in my bag! I wanted to keep this video hammer free and kid friendly so decided not to do too much filming on it. It is pretty crushed but should make something if the middle is there.

[@tonystaples4173]

So were on holiday rigth now We watched your video this morning over breakfast as we had now idea until then what to look for Got up early and found plenty due to your video Thanks for doing this video bud 👍 im sure we would have missed loads had we not watch this found an amenite about the size of a 50 pence piece Well chuffed

[@TheFossilAcademy]

Ahh dude that’s awesome! Really pleased the vid helped you out :) I’ll be around this week no doubt, if you see me on the beach give us a shout.

[@Gez-C]

I’m going to have to go there when I visit next, where you went is that to the left of the car park?

[@TheFossilAcademy]

Yes dude, go over the bridge away from Lyme towards golden cap

[@wildhogs2849]

Nice video. Love Charmouth beautiful beach. One of the best on South Coast 👍

[@TheFossilAcademy]

It’s a pretty special place :)

[@aaronclark8877]

That's great. Thanks for this

[@docsavagefan2795]

Great video, thank you

[@TheFossilAcademy]

Cheers :) really appreciate that! In a bit of a rut making new content at the mo but getting my backside in gear! Missing it quite a bit, just need to get back on it

[@BritishBeachcomber]

The little Ammonites are the best. More likely to be complete and undamaged. Also easier to prepare.

[@TheMowbs]

Hey Dan, long time no see. Hope you are doing well. We are stopping near Charmouth at the moment with the kids and my oldest loves fossils so while searching for some fossil hunting tips came across your video. Thought to myself is that Dan? Then when I heard you speak I knew it was 😀 off to find some fossils. Take it easy. Rich

[@HomeEdMum]

What do u do with the little bits then? Thanks

[@TheFossilAcademy]

Usually give most of them away to kids :)

[@HomeEdMum]

@@TheFossilAcademy 💜👏🙌💜

[@stevebarrett1268]

Hey Dan, we're coming down to lyme regis this week, or youngest is learning about Mary Anning at school at the moment, so was a great excuse to come down!! We've only done a little bit of fossil hunting, but we're addicted (me more than the kids!). I'm going to show the kids this video later 👍 Love the videos, would be good to see a video on what nodules/rocks to look out for when looking for the bigger fossils in rocks to be split. Keep up the good work 👌

[@TheFossilAcademy]

Steve Barrett pop into work and I’ll be able to show you what to look for

[@stevebarrett1268]

The Fossil Academy will do, thanks are you just "around" in the centre or do they hide you away...will look like a right fan boy now though lol...we've never spoken if the family ask 🤓🤓

[@TheFossilAcademy]

Haha! I’ll just be around, the centre is really good, we’ve got loads of info and displays on what to look for on the beach, we’ve got a bloke in today (Wednesday) doing a free workshop with the kids making models for our new marine display, he’s really good and it’s something to do if the weather is pants later. If I’m not walking around I’ll be in the back office, just give us a shout.

[@stevebarrett1268]

The Fossil Academy only just seen this, but it was really nice to meet you earlier. The girls were over the moon with the bits you gave them and the fact they'd met a real life you tuber 👍 thanks again. Will definitely be coming back in for another look around the centre, as we didn't see everything.

[@TheFossilAcademy]

Steve Barrett if you go out in the morning just be careful, the weather is going to be awful! Pop in before you go and show us your finds.

[@P8J6]

This is cool I sore this guy at charmoth

[@jasonwilson7674]

Aahhhh mate, I've got to get down there with my lads, we was looking for ammonites on the beach at Freshwater near westbay, found some in rocks we smashed up

[@TheFossilAcademy]

Yeah you can get some nice ammonites from the Cliffs at west bay, I think it’s the top 10ft of the cliffs that have some good stuff in them

[@sr-vw2pm]

We just went. No joy . Didn't find much at all. Boo

[@TheFossilAcademy]

Been good this past few weeks with the windy weather. We have a fossil walk on Sunday at the centre. 2 hours £8 for adults and £4 for hobbits.

[@sebm1]

Can you sieve for ammonites in these pyrite patches?

[@TheFossilAcademy]

StitchSeb I have seen people do this using the garden type type sieves, only thing is you could miss the littler ones! Always worth a go!!

[@RevGav]

How do pyrite ammonites form?

[@TheFossilAcademy]

during petrification the structure of the fossil is replaced with pyrite, it can cover or totally replace the structure but this depends on the geochemical conditions.

[@giuliaroba]

Is it legal? For example in Italy you could take a fine for collecting shells from beach

[@TheFossilAcademy]

Any loose material on the beach is legal, you need special permission to extract something if you find it in situ, (either in the cliff or part of the bedrock) you will get a fine for digging in the cliffs and all important finds are to be recorded with the heritage coast centre. The rules do differ from site to site though as some beaches are privately owned.

[@BeansOnToast01]

Wait can you actually get a fine for taking shells from beaches in italy

[@BeansOnToast01]

So I've just finished the video, and I was wondering is it really that easy to find fossils there or are you just really good at finding them, because that is actually so cool how many there are!

[@TheFossilAcademy]

Sorry missed this one earlier, it all depends on the state of the beach, always good after a big storm, sometimes though the tide pushes the sand up the beach and it makes it quite difficult and you really have to work at it, some days you go and there are loads about, others you’ll get nothing, what keeps folk coming back on a regular basis. When you start to recognise the different nodules and learn what you find in them, that’s the next level. All the professional collectors can spot a decent stone from a fair distance so it can get quite competitive during the winter months :)

[@BeansOnToast01]

Thanks for the advice, it is really helpful!! By the way you just got a new subscriber!

[@TheFossilAcademy]

Having a bit of a reset with the content, lost my dad last week so haven’t been posting anything this past few months. Got a few good ideas for vids coming up Soon. Cheers for the sub. D

[@TheFossilAcademy]

Thank you for the kind words dude.

[@CIMAmotor]

Hello Dan, can I find any fossils on Sidmouth beach?

[@TheFossilAcademy]

Those beautiful red cliffs are Triassic in age and would have been laid down when the area was a desert, there have been dinosaur remains found, rare as hens teeth though.

[@CIMAmotor]

@@TheFossilAcademy Fossil hen's teeth? Cheers.

[@TheFossilAcademy]

@@CIMAmotor rarer....... :)

[@aaronclark8877]

Anymore videos?

[@TheFossilAcademy]

Hey dude just started to add more regular videos, calling them The Workshop Sessions :) check them out and let me know what you think.

[@gutinstinct4067]

And not once did you tell people to ` Check the tides ` can imagine all these kids floating away lol

[@TheFossilAcademy]

Gut Instinct plenty of signs and warnings down on Charmouth regarding tides, might be worth doing some beach safety vids though.