A public appeal to fund the excavation of the most fearsome marine monster of all time from a cliff face in Kimmeridge has smashed through the half million pound barrier.
A date has been set, less than 12 months away, for a spectacular rescue of Purbeck’s Sea Rex, which is expected to be the most complete giant pliosaur ever discovered.
In 2022, excavation was done by abseiling paleontologists; in 2027 it will be a much bigger operation from the top of the cliff
Race is on to raise final £91,000
Now the race is on to raise the final £91,000 before spring 2027 so that up to 20 metres of Dorset’s Jurassic Coast can be dug away to reveal the remaining skeleton of Sea Rex, whose two metre long skull is already on display in the Etches Collection museum at Kimmeridge.
The Sea Rex shot to international fame after featuring in the Emmy Award nominated BBC documentary Attenborough and the Giant Sea Monster, presented by Sir David Attenborough on New Year’s Day 2024.
Its record breaking skull was recovered by abseiling archaeologists during a dramatic cliff excavation in 2022, 12 metres above the beach, and more of its vertebrae were recovered by museum founder Steve Etches in summer 2025.
He is convinced that the rest of the sea monster’s skeleton lies deeper in the cliff face, and although the fearsome beast was still a juvenile, it could still be up to 12 metres in length.
If the final £91,000 can be raised in time, and the skeleton is removed safely, it could eventually be displayed alongside its skull in a new extension to the museum.
Museum founder Steve Etches with the giant pliosaur skull dug out of the cliffs at Kimmeridge
Sir David Attenborough and Steve Etches examine the pliosaur skull at The Etches Collection
Project starting in May or June
Steve Etches said:
“To date, we have very nearly reached our financial target with less than £100,000 now to raise in order to hit the required £650,000 which would enable us to go ahead with the project starting in May or June 2027.
“This project has to start next year due to the very high rate of erosion in the cliff and we stand to lose one of the most important finds of the century if our rescue dig is not carried out.
“I would like to thank everyone who has donated so far to the excavation project – those individuals and businesses that have given large sums of money and also to the children who have donated their pocket money, all of whom are very enthusiastic that we will recover the remaining skeleton.
“Naturally, £91,000 is still a large amount, but in the grand scheme of things when relating this to, say, a footballer’s fortnightly wage, it is not!”
An artist’s impression of the Sea Rex moving in for a kill, for the BBC documentary Attenborough and the Giant Sea Monster
“Please, let’s do this together!”
Steve Etches added:
“To the large companies, I encourage you to help, what you pay in tax could be given and then offset against your tax return.
“It is also incredibly encouraging that various government bodies, including the local authorities, are willing to help streamline the processes that we need to satisfy the logistical requirements of the dig.
“Our team here at the museum is incredibly excited in what the future holds for this project and we will be delighted to hear from anybody who can come on board and support us in this last push for securing the remaining funds for the excavation.
“Please, let’s do this together and achieve what some people believe is an impossible task and prove that our spirit for discovery in Great Britain for this kind of an adventure is still alive within us!”
The proposed site of an extension to The Etches Museum if the full Sea Rex skeleton can be recovered
New gallery may get Lottery funding
As a designated museum on the world heritage site of the Jurassic Coast in Dorset, the Etches Collection Museum of Jurassic Marine Life brings to life a five million year slice of time, known as the Kimmeridgian Stage, some 152 to 157 million years ago.
At that time, the land on which the museum sits today was a tropical sea inhabited by the creatures that now make up the fossil collection from ancestors of modern day sharks and fish to the mighty killers of the deep, long necked reptiles like the Plesiosaur, and the dolphin like Ichthyosaur.
At the apex of the food chain was the Sea Rex, the ferocious Pliosaur, an apex predator which could stalk its prey in the darkest waters just by using sensors on its skin, and which ate everything that it came across.
If a complete skeleton is recovered, a new gallery could get funding from the National Lottery and could become a world leading attraction dedicated to the enormous reptiles that once swam in the tropical seas covering Dorset.
The museum attracted 70,000 visitors in the first year after Sir David Attenborough’s documentary was shown – up from around 17,000 in previous years – and crowds continue to arrive to view the amazing find.
Dinosaur expert Dean Lomax, ambassador to the Etches Collection, says the Sea Rex could be the most complete giant pliosaur on the planet
“Of the utmost importance”
Etches Museum’s new ambassador, TV paleontologist Dean Lomax, said:
“Rescuing the Sea Rex pliosaur and ensuring it is saved for science is of utmost importance.
“There is potential for this specimen to be among the most complete giant pliosaurs on the planet.
“The skeleton will no doubt reveal important new insights into late Jurassic pliosaurs and will spark generations of interest in palaeontology.
“It is a major discovery of international importance and should be recognised as one of the most significant marine reptile discoveries in Britain.”
Operations manager Carla Crook is busy planning the Etches Museum’s 10th anniversary Big Jurassic Birthday Bash
Big Birthday Bash plans
This summer, the Etches Collection museum is to celebrate its 10th anniversary, and its role at the heart of Kimmeridge, with its Big Jurassic Birthday Bash on Saturday 22nd August 2026.
The event, held in partnership with the Kimmeridge Wild Seas Centre, which is marking its own 25th anniversary, and Clavells restaurant.
It will celebrate not only the museum but the wider Kimmeridge community with guided walks, fossil activities, workshops, face painting, history tours, book signings and local food.
Museum spokesperson Carla Crook said:
“Our Destination Kimmeridge event is about much more than fossils. It’s a celebration of Kimmeridge village, Kimmeridge Bay and the wonderful community that makes this part of Dorset so special. We hope lots of people will join us for a day of Jurassic Coast fun.”
Philip Jacobs, who discovered the Sea Rex pliosaur, has been collecting and excavating from the Kimmeridge clay for 45 years.
He gifts all of his major finds to The Etches Collection so that they can be enjoyed by all, including a nearly complete ichthyosaur, Britney, that is a species new to science.
Philip is also an internationally known textile designer and his finds have gone on to inspire his work.
His work has in the past been used to decorate the White House in Washington and is worn by such celebrities as Jennifer Lopez, James May, and the Governor General of Canada.
Local man Philip Jacobs found the snout of the Sea Rex on a Kimmeridge beach
Further information
- Explore prehistoric adventures under the sea at The Etches Museum website
