Bracklesham Bay, Sussex, UK, May 12 2024

May 27

Bracklesham Bay, Sussex, UK

Eocene, Bracklesham Group

Sunday 12 May 2024

We were forecasted to a have a warm, sunny day in mid-May (rare as hen’s teeth), so we decided to head to the beach! I knew we wouldn’t hit the tides just right for any of the beaches on my list, so we went with the one which the internet had suggested would be the easiest to access with my daughter. It was the right choice – she loved it! I would certainly recommend Bracklesham Bay for anyone with young children who still wants to have some hope at finding fossils, regardless of the tidal conditions.

Low tide was just after 8am and we arrived at the beach around 9:30, so did miss peak time for fossils, but there was a lot of soft sand still exposed for my daughter to dig up and run around in. I dug a bit just next to some of the wooden posts with my trowel and did some wet sieving in order to bag up some material to take home. That strategy worked quite well in terms of shells; we found tons of lovely seashells, both fossilized and modern, as well as plenty of foraminifera (Nummulites laevigatus). What we didn’t find were any shark teeth, ray plates, or bones, but I reckon this was due to the tidal conditions and the fact that we didn’t walk very far to the east to really get into the different fossil beds. Despite fossil hunting not really being today’s main goal, I was very pleased with the variety of shells and the fact that many were in excellent condition.

Recommended Equipment:

- trowel

- sieve

- water shoes as parts of the shore are quite pebbly and rough until you get down to where the tide covers

- a large Ziploc bag for matrix

- Tupperware or small Ziplocs for loose finds

That’s really it for equipment, as had been indicated online. We also brought spare clothes, a large picnic blanket with stakes (absolutely need the stakes due to the winds) and plenty of snacks, so were well prepared!

Summary of finds:

Gastropods:

- Belonidium gracile

- Collonia sp.

- Cossmannica emarginata

- Elegantiscala acuta

- Emarginula costata

- Fissidentalium grandis

- Mitreola sp.

- Periaulax

- Seila

- Seila quadricingulata