For decades, Dorset-based fossil hunter Chris Moore combed the cliffs and beaches around Lyme Regis and Charmouth, part of England's UNESCO-listed Jurassic Coast, gradually assembling a collection of 318 specimens spanning ichthyosaurs, fish and crustaceans, including fossils that could potentially represent species new to science. Under the region's fossil collecting code, Moore first offered the collection to the Natural History Museum in London and Amgueddfa Cymru, the national museum of Wales, giving British institutions an opportunity to acquire it before it could be sold elsewhere. Neither museum was able to secure the funding required to purchase the collection, which was eventually acquired by the Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi and put on public display there in November 2025. The sale has since prompted concern among British palaeontologists and renewed debate over whether UK museums have sufficient funding to preserve scientifically important fossils discovered on Britain's own coastline. This controversy underscores an urgent need for stronger legislative protections and dedicated funding mechanisms to ensure Britain's scientifically valuable fossil discoveries remain accessible within their country of origin.
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