The Valley of Whales or Wadi El-Hitan has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2005. The valley is located northwest of the Fayum Depression, north of the Western Desert of Egypt, and preserves the richest marine mammal-bearing Paleogene exposures in Egypt, if not the entire Afro-Arabian landmass, with a remarkable collection of Eocene fossil whales from which it derives its name.

The fossil whales from Wadi El-Hitan have been famous for their completeness and exquisite preservation, with the majority of them being assigned to the late Eocene taxa Basilosaurus isis and Dorudon atrox. In addition to the whale fossils, Wadi El-Hitan has produced a wide variety of other vertebrate fauna such as crocodiles, sirenians and fishes. This project in collaboration with the Egyptian Environment Affair Agency (EEAA).