Jon Gospill, a nurse and amateur archaeologist from Somerset took his two dogs, Poppy and Sam out for a stroll last week along the beach. As the tide went out, the pooches went towards the rocks as it was a place they often liked to play.
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When the tide goes out, a lot more of the shore's surface is accessible, and after some particularly stormy weather, a lot of the mud that normally covers the surface of this area had been washed away.
Suddenly, Poppy and Sam were distracted by an object Jon couldn’t quite make out...
A once in a lifetime discovery
As Jon got closer to his dogs he realized they were interested in the fossilized remains of a creature about five-and-a-half feet in length; having an interest in archaeology enabled him to realize that this was no ordinary find.
Jon took a lot of pictures and later did some research on his discovery, figuring it to likely be an ichthyosaur, a creature that would have been alive some 65 million years ago. 'I had goosebumps when I saw it, I walked away and walked back and kept shaking my head in disbelief,' he said.
A discovery truly worthy of display, Jon sent his findings off to the Museum of Natural History and is still waiting on verification for his find. If it is confirmed to be a new species, Jon hopes it can be named after his dogs!
