Fossil Hunting & Dinosaur Isle
What we did
Olivia's Day Three — a fossil-shore shanty (mind the tide!).
We walked the beach on the fossil hunt, the tide came rushing in,
I tumbled in the sea twice o'er — clothes soaked right to the skin!So heave-ho for the fossil shore,
Where dinosaurs walked in the days of yore!We spied some fish beneath the waves, I searched the stony ground,
And seven ancient fossils were the treasures that I found.We roamed a hall of fossils next from times long, long ago,
Great dinosaurs and stone-age beasts all set out in a row.So heave-ho for the fossil shore,
Where dinosaurs walked in the days of yore!A lump of dino dung was there! A sandpit deep and wide,
A giant bath, a talking beast — a robot 'saur besides!Then all the year raced to the sea when afternoon came round,
A mighty water fight broke out, and laughter was the sound.So heave-ho for the fossil shore,
Where dinosaurs walked in the days of yore!
Photos
Britain's "Dinosaur Island"
No wonder Olivia found seven fossils — the Isle of Wight is one of the richest places in Europe for finding dinosaur remains, which is why it's nicknamed "Dinosaur Island." More than 20 different kinds of dinosaur have been discovered here, their bones tumbling out of the crumbling cliffs as the sea wears them away. And that "dinosaur poo"? It's real, and scientists have a proper name for fossilised dung: a coprolite. By studying coprolites, experts can work out what dinosaurs actually ate — millions of years after their last meal!