🦴

🐋

🦷

Journey Through Time

Whales Valley

Explore our recreation inspired by Wadi Al-Hitan — a UNESCO World Heritage Site where ancient whale fossils tell the story of evolution spanning 40 million years in Egypt’s Western Desert.

Originally located in Fayoum Governorate, Egypt

Book Your Visit See The Fossils

Million Years

Age of the whale fossils

Meters Length

Largest skeleton discovered

UNESCO Listed

World Heritage recognition

First Discovery

Winter expedition finds

The Story

Wadi Al-Hitan: Valley of Whales

The first fossil skeletons were discovered in the winter of 1902-3. For 80 years they attracted little interest — until the 1980s when 4WD vehicles made access possible. These remains display the streamlined body form of modern whales, yet retain primitive skull and tooth structures, with the unexpected presence of hind legs, feet, and toes.

🦴

Ancient Skeletons

Complete archaeoceti whale fossils up to 21 meters in length

🏛️

UNESCO Heritage

Recognized for its unique paleontological significance

🔬

Evolution Evidence

Proof of whale evolution from land-dwelling to ocean-living

Exhibits

Discover The Fossils

Please note: the aquarium features one whale exhibit display inspired by Wadi Al-Hitan. It is not the full fossil collection from the site, but a representation designed to help our guests understand this extraordinary chapter of natural history.

Eocene Era

Archaeoceti Whales

Complete skeletons of ancient whales that still retained hind limbs — a crucial link in the story of whale evolution from land to sea.

Up to 21m 40M years

Geology

Desert Formations

Spectacular wind-eroded cliffs and buttes formed from Middle to Late Eocene sandstones, mudstones, and fossil-rich limestones.

Birket Qarun 3 formations

Marine Life

Ancient Sea Life

Millions of years of coastal marine life evidence. Shells, coral, and other marine organisms preserved in the limestone layers.

Western Desert UNESCO

Timeline

Geological History

🌊

Ancient Ocean

40 million years ago, this desert was a vast shallow sea teeming with marine life. The Gehannam Formation mudstones preserve evidence of these deep waters.

🦷

Walking Whales

The fossils reveal whales with five-fingered flippers and hind legs with feet and toes — evidence of their transition from land-dwelling ancestors.

🏜️

Desert Erosion

Wind and water erosion over millions of years created spectacular cliffs and buttes, slowly uncovering the fossils buried in shallow sediments.

🐚

Lagoon Layers

The Qasr el Sagha Formation at the cliff tops contains shell-filled limestones and dark mudstones from an ancient coastal lagoon environment.

Gallery

Fossil Collection

View

View

View

View

View Full Gallery

Explore The Ancient Past

Your ticket includes access to the Whales Valley exhibit along with the Marine Aquarium, Rainforest, Zoo, and all other attractions.

Book Tickets Now See Marine Aquarium