Weymouth Sea Life Tower delighted to support the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site
England’s only natural World Heritage Site is to benefit from the anticipated success of the new Weymouth Sea Life Tower.
Tower operator Merlin Entertainments has agreed a collaboration with the Jurassic Coast Partnership which means that 10-per-cent of all guide-book proceeds will help education and conservation projects related to the 95-mile natural wonder.
World Heritage Site Manager Dr Sam Rose welcomed the collaboration, which will also see members of his team training Tower guides to pass on key facts about the famous coastline.
“I am delighted with this partnership,” said Dr Rose. “Tower visitors will have a great opportunity to view part of one of the most remarkable stretches of coastline anywhere in the world from a completely different perspective.”
He added that funds generated by the new alliance will go to the Jurassic Coast Trust, a charity established to support education and conservation work along the World Heritage Site. Their support might enable schools to visit and learn about the Jurassic Coast, help to fund new or improved Visitor facilities such as those at Chesil Beach, or conserve outstanding and globally significant fossils found along the Site.
Tower passengers will get amazing views of the Purbeck Cliffs, Portland, and Weymouth Bay… scene of a celebrated marine reptile discovery in 2003.
It was there that an amateur paleontologist uncovered what turned out to be the 8 foot long 155 million year-old fossilised head of a Pliosaur, an ocean-dwelling predator with the biggest bite of any animal yet discovered.
The discovery is now on display at Dorset County Museum in Dorchester, where it was officially unveiled last year by Sir David Attenborough.
The back cover of a specially designed new ‘mini-guide’ for Sea Life Tower visitors will be given over to more fascinating facts about the Jurassic Coast – described as a ‘geological walk through time.’
James Weld, Chairman of the Jurassic Coast Trust, also welcomed the link with the new Tower.
“This is a terrific example of how businesses situated in Dorset & East Devon can become involved with the Jurassic Coast, helping everyone’s understanding and ensuring its protection for future generations.”
The £3.5 million Tower is set to open on June 22nd, and will carry nearly 70 passengers at a time to a height of 173 feet above the resort’s Festival Pier.
It will also offer spectacular birds-eye views of the Olympic sailing events.