Valley of the Whales

An Egyptian desert, once an ocean, holds the secret to one of evolution’s most remarkable transformations.Imagine this dry expanse underwater, with whales hunting and diving. Today visitors to Wadi Hitan walk a stone-lined path to see rocks that hold the fossils of the long-gone sea creatures.



Egypt isn't the only country with traces of early whales. Found in Pakistan, this 47-million-year-old Maiacetus now stands in the basement of the University of Michigan Museum of Paleontology. With robust legs and webbed feet, it propelled itself on land like a sea lion. The limbs also provided thrust for swimming; its tail served mainly as a rudder. Later whales swam more efficiently with tail power; their hind legs dwindled, and their front legs morphed into flippers.


The base camp for the Wadi Hitan protected area is tucked in the lee of a low knoll, which offers some shelter from the sun and the whipping, sand-laden winds that periodically sweep the area. (Summer temperatures are often in the 120s.) Egyptian architect Gabriel Mikhail designed the camp to blend in with the shapes and hues of the desert.


Fossil whales are one of God's miracles," says Mohammed Sameh (at left), Wadi Hitan's head ranger, reassembling a Dorudon skeleton with University of Michigan postdoc Iyad Zalmout. The site's rare prehistoric whales helped earn it UNESCO World Heritage status.