Sandpipers
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The south coast of the Island adjoins the English Channel. Without man's intervention the Island may well have been split into three with the sea breaking through 1) at the west end of the Island where a bank of pebbles separates Freshwater Bay from the marshy backwaters of the Western Yar east of Freshwater, and 2) at the east end of the Island where a thin strip of land separates Sandown Bay from the marshy basin of the Eastern Yar, east of Sandown. Yarmouth itself was effectively an island with water on all sides and only connected to the rest of the Island by a regularly breached neck of land immediately east of the town.
Island wildlife is remarkable, and it is one of the few places in England where the red squirrel is flourishing, with a stable population (Brownsea Island is another). Unlike most of England, no grey squirrels are to be found on the Island, nor are there any wild deer but, instead, rare and protected species, such as the dormouse and many rare bats, can be found. The Glanville Fritillary butterfly's distribution in the United Kingdom is largely restricted to the edges of the crumbling cliffs of the Isle of Wight.
A competition in 2002 named the Pyramidal Orchid as the Isle of Wight's county flower.
The Island is known as one of the most important areas in Europe for finding dinosaur fossils. The eroding cliffs also assist hidden remains to become more visible.
The Island is made up from a wide variety of different rock types which date from Early Cretaceous times (around 127 million years ago) to the middle of the Palaeogene (around 30 million years ago). All the rocks found on the Island are sedimentary, made up of mineral grains from previously existing rocks. These are all consolidated to form the rocks that can be seen on the Island today, such as limestone, mudstone and sandstone. Rocks on the Island are very rich in fossils and many of these can be seen exposed on the beaches as the cliffs erode.
Cretaceous rocks, normally red, show that the climate was previously hot and dry. This provided suitable living conditions for dinosaurs. Dinosaur bones and footprints can be seen around the Island along beaches, especially at Yaverland and Compton bay.
Along the northern coast of the Island there is a rich source of fossilised shellfish, crocodiles, turtles and other mammal bones. The youngest of these dates back to around 30 million years ago.
The Island is mainly made up of Tertiary clays, in most of the northern parts of the Island, limestone, upper and lower greensands, wealden and chalk.
The Isle of Wight's county town is Newport, in the centre of the island. There are also smaller towns along the coasts particularly on the east side of the Island. Many of these such as Sandown and Ryde attract many tourists each year.
As well as the major towns, the island also has many smaller villages, some of which also attract many tourists for example Godshill.
In 2005, Northern Petroleum began exploratory drilling for oil, with its Sandhills-2 borehole at Porchfield but ceased operations in October that year, after failing to find significant reserves.
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