![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.walkhighlands.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/beareraig1.jpg\" "\\"beareraig\\"")
One of the worst examples of reckless fossil collecting in recent years has been uncovered by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) on the Isle of Skye.<\/p>\nOne of the worst examples of reckless fossil collecting in recent years has been uncovered by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) on the Isle of Skye.<\/p>\n
Several tonnes of rock have been dug from the cliffs near to Bearreraig Bay in an apparent organised search for valuable fossil specimens. <\/p>\n
Bearreraig Bay is within a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) which includes important beds of fossils dating from the Jurassic period. The Jurassic lasted until around 145 million years ago and featured marine creatures such as ammonites, and terrestrial animals including the carnivorous dinosaur Megalosaurus and the vegetarians Cetiosaurus and Stegosaurus.<\/p>\n
The SSSI designation highlights the importance of the site and any excavation and removal of rock needs permission from SNH as well as the landowner. <\/p>\n
Skye is known as Scotland\u2019s \u2018dinosaur isle\u2019 and contains important fossil records. This makes it all the more serious that irresponsible collecting by a selfish minority is threatening this unique aspect of Skye\u2019s natural heritage.<\/p>\n
Colin MacFadyen, SNH\u2019s geologist, said: \u201cFossil collecting is important for scientific and educational purposes, and is a popular hobby. It is better for fossils that fall from cliffs to be found, collected and enjoyed rather than be eroded and washed away by the tide.<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, speeding up the process by large scale rock removal as in this alarming case is irresponsible and illegal, and also potentially dangerous to people as the cliff faces are undermined and destabilised.<\/p>\n
\u201cSNH is committed to ensuring that particularly vulnerable fossil resources last for future generations to collect and learn from. This commitment includes promotion of responsible collecting through the Scottish Fossil Code.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy following the Code people can stay within the law, respect the Scottish Outdoor Access Code, and ensure they follow best practice in collecting and storing fossils. The Code encourages collectors to consider donating anything special they find to a museum for use in future scientific study and enjoyment by all.\u201d<\/p>\n
SNH is working with the police to find out who is responsible for the damage. This report of damage to Bearreraig follows reports of dinosaur footprint fossils being removed from Valtos SSSI in north Skye and anyone with information on these incidents is asked to contact Northern Constabulary on 01478 612888. There is a walk description with map and photos of a walk down to Bearreraig Bay<\/a> on Walkhighlands.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" One of the worst examples of reckless fossil collecting in recent years has been uncovered by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) on the Isle of Skye. Several tonnes of rock have been dug from the cliffs near to Bearreraig Bay in an apparent organised search for valuable fossil specimens. Bearreraig Bay is within a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) which includes important beds of fossils dating from the Jurassic period. The Jurassic lasted until around 145 million years ago and featured marine creatures such as ammonites, and terrestrial animals including the carnivorous dinosaur Megalosaurus and the vegetarians Cetiosaurus and Stegosaurus.…<\/span> <\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5771,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5770","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-conservation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.walkhighlands.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5770","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.walkhighlands.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.walkhighlands.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.walkhighlands.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.walkhighlands.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5770"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.walkhighlands.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5770\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23460,"href":"https:\/\/www.walkhighlands.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5770\/revisions\/23460"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.walkhighlands.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5771"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.walkhighlands.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5770"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.walkhighlands.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5770"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.walkhighlands.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5770"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Read more ›<\/div>\n