The IOW is one of the best places in Europe for discovering dinosaur remains. There are over 15 types known, with a new species being discovered on average every 3 years. All island dinosaurs are from the earliest part of the Cretaceous period (145 - 65 million years ago). Other fossils you can find include fossilised wood, fir cones, ammonites, lepidotus fish (lots of scales and teeth to be found), sharks teeth, crocodiles and even 115 million year old lobsters.

Our best finds so far..’Iguanadon’ Above:- Metatarsal foot bone, found Hanover point, Mar 2004 (Top LHS bone in foot stucture above). Kindly identified by S. Hutt at Sandown Museum. RHS -below and above,- Iguanadon Tooth - found lying on beach near Brook May 2006.

Iguanodon "Iguana Tooth" habited the IOW in the late Jurassic, early Cretaceous period approximately 121 to 131 million years ago. It was a bird-footed, beaked, bipedal, herbivorous dinosaur approx 6-10m long, 4-5m high, weighing approx 4.5 tones, (thats 4,500kg - or over 3 x the weight of a vauxhall Vectra!). It is thought to have roamed in herds...... Something to think about as you lay on the beach!

Anyone can find fossils on the beach – all you need is patience and a knowledge of what to look out for! To start your training, visit the Fossil shop at Blackgang Chine or the museum at Sandown. They both have good fossils on display and also run guided fossil trips on the beach.

Dinosaur Isle Museum in Sandown has around 1,000 specimens, plus life-size reconstructions and full-scale models.  ( http://www.dinosaurisle.com )

There is an element of luck and patience to finding fossils. There are no ‘Hot spots’ littered with bones! Whale Chine area can be good for very large ammonites (but it is usually best after a cliff fall). Atherfield point area has yielded several significant dinosaur finds and is also the location of the lobster beds.  Hanover point near Compton is probably the best location to find small parts of Dinosaur and other prehistoric creatures - worn bones, vertebrae, and teeth etc.  It is best to look amongst the shingle on the beach and in rock pools at low tide.  At low tide it is also possible to see the three toed foot prints of Iguanadon on the exposed flat rock strata (probably best to be shown the first time - they can be hard to spot). Also at the base of the cliffs around Hanover are numerous ‘Foot casts’ - these are the solidified material which once filled the deep foot prints left by these massive creatures. Bone fragments near Hanover are generally black on outer surfaces with obvious speckled ‘honeycom / aero chocolate bar’ internal cell structure.