Scientists confirmed this week that they can explain a graveyard of whale fossils found in Chile, believed to have been there for over five million years, according to a recent study.
It is now thought that the whales were killed after eating toxic algae, and then washed up onto the sands.
Results were published in the journal Royal Society this week.
The first skeleton was discovered during construction work for a new road in North Chile back in 2011.
There were four different groups of whales that washed up there over time. The team of scientists found the skeletons of 15 whales in 15 days, according to the study.
The skeletons of sharks, seals, and dolphins were also discovered.
The researchers were given a two week time period to compete their studies before road work started again.
Since they had a limited time frame to conduct research, they recorded as much detail as they could including 3D digital models of the skeletal remains and then removing bones for additional analysis according to the study.
"We found extinct creatures such as walrus whales - dolphins that evolved a walrus-like face. And then there were these bizarre aquatic sloths," said Nicholas Pyenson, from the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, in a statement.
Researchers said it is believed the creatures would let their prey eat the poisonous algae, and then they would eat the prey.
"All the creatures we found, whether whales, seals or billfishes, fed high up in marine food webs and that would have made them very susceptible to harmful algal blooms," said Pyenson.
The whales were preserved for millions of years.
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