In the Footsteps of Dinosaurs: Fossil Hunting in Whitby

Since the 18th century, Whitby has been a vibrant and popular UK tourist destination. It is located in the North East of England, and has a rich history, with the first Abbey being built in 657 AD. Today, Whitby is famous for inspiring Bram Stoker’s ‘Dracula’ after his visit in 1890, and it’s annual Goth Weekend, which has been running since the 1990s. However, one of Whitby’s main draws takes us back much further in our history, to around 180 million years ago: fossil hunting.
Popular with both amateur and professional fossil hunters, Whitby forms part of the Yorkshire Coastline, stretching from the Tees estuary to the Humber estuary. On the ‘Dinosaur Coast’, one of the oldest dinosaur bones in the UK (nicknamed ‘Alan’) was discovered in Whitby in 2015. The sauropod backbone dated back 176 million years to the mid Jurassic period and was discovered after falling from one of Whitby’s cliff faces. Most fossil hunters won’t usually find anything quite so rare, but Whitby’s many bays are home to a range of finds, such as ammonites, belemnites, and jet. One of the most popular is Saltwick Bay, located to the south of Whitby, and accessed by a beautiful coastal walk along Cleveland Way, past Whitby Abbey.
Ammonites have a particularly strong link to Whitby history and geography. Their coiled shells are easy to identify, and their rapid evolutions and short lifespans make them incredibly useful for identifying the age of the rocks they were fossilised in. Ammonites are also famous for the snakestone legend. St Hild was charged with founding the first abbey in Whitby, and first had to rid the area of a plague of snakes; she took one by the neck and threw it off a cliff where it curled up and turned to stone. In Whitby Museum, these histories are brought together with a large number of ammonites arranged to show their evolution, and a sample of ‘snakestones’ with snake heads carved onto ammonites. For any local history fans, geologists, and fossil lovers, it is part of an incredible collection!
Belemnites were squid-like animals with an internal skeleton, forming a bullet shape feature, that lived during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods (between 210 million years ago to 66 million years ago!) The fossilised skeleton is a common find in Whitby, especially in Saltwick Bay. Jet is an iconic Whitby found, formed from fossilised monkey puzzle trees, and used by a number of jewellers. Jet is easy to identify by dragging along paper—if the streak is black, it is coal, and if the streak is brown, it’s Whitby jet!
For beginner fossil hunters, fossil hunting tours are a fantastic option for exploring Whitby’s beaches, usually priced around £20-30 for three hours exploration with a group and an expert. These are a great way to get answers to many of your questions and can be great fun when you are starting out at any age.
In October 2023, I had the opportunity to go on one of these tours, starting at Natural Wonders, a fossil shop in Whitby. On route to Saltwick Bay, our guide, Steve, gave us a few ideas of what we were looking for on the beaches. Some fossils are exposed on the beach but many of them are enclosed in nodules, unusually round rocks that may be surrounded by broken up shale. These can then be cracked open with a geologist's hammer, often revealing an empty nodule, but sometimes fossilised bone or ammonites.
Steve also pointed out one of Whitby’s shipwrecks, visible from Cleveland Way. The MV Cretebook was intended to be scrapped in 1947, and deliberately sunk, however it was struck by the Whitby Scar in shallow water and broke apart. The remains were only partially cleared up and can still be seen at low tide. Saltwick Bay is accessed by a large number of steep downhill steps, but worth the effort once you are on the beach.
Along Saltwick Bay, Steve stopped the group to show us his favourite fossils on the beach, including a dinosaur footprint that had been left among the rocks. This one, he told us, would stay on the beach because it would be too difficult to move. Between our group, we had found a number of ammonites and belemnites, most of us coming home with something from the Dinosaur Coast. However, one thing Steve said has stuck with me and it will be something I remember every time I look for fossils: to remember to leave something behind for the next person on the beach.
When you first begin fossil hunting, all finds, no matter how common, are incredibly exciting  too! Sharing the joy of the Dinosaur Coast, and leaving something behind for the next person to enjoy is at the very core of fossil hunting.
For those who may have found nothing at all: there are always the wonderful fossil shops in Whitby where you can find an array of ammonites, belemnites and fossilized dinosaur teeth, and support this beautiful town.