--- title: Researchers 3D Print a Whale Graveyard description: After road construction on the Pan-American Highway revealed a mysterious whale graveyard in Chile, researchers scrambled to figure out why so many of the mammals... canonical: https://time.com/archive/7218253/3d-printing-whale-graveyard/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-02-27T00:42:25.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-25T05:51:18.892Z article:section: Science og:title: Researchers 3D Print a Whale Graveyard og:description: After road construction on the Pan-American Highway revealed a mysterious whale graveyard in Chile, researchers scrambled to figure out why so many of the mammals... og:url: https://time.com/archive/7218253/3d-printing-whale-graveyard/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3dd7f1e19400a968/6998b579a97fc03dcda72674/3d_scanning_tent_cerroballena_11.jpg?branch=production&width=608&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 608 og:image:height: 342 og:image:alt: From left: Adam Metallo and Vince Rossi from the Smithsonian's Digitization Program Office 3-D Lab a use high-resolution laser arm and medium-range laser scanners to document one of the most complete fossil whales from the Cerro Ballena site in 2011. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Researchers 3D Print a Whale Graveyard twitter:description: After road construction on the Pan-American Highway revealed a mysterious whale graveyard in Chile, researchers scrambled to figure out why so many of the mammals... twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3dd7f1e19400a968/6998b579a97fc03dcda72674/3d_scanning_tent_cerroballena_11.jpg?branch=production&width=608&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Science](/section/science/) # Researchers 3D Print a Whale Graveyard So They Can Study It Later > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=9f5f12c6-0c6b-4248-bcee-9c58fdd73f71&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) Feb 27, 2014 12:42 AM UTC  From left, Adam Metallo and Vince Rossi from the Smithsonian's Digitization Program Office 3-D Lab a use high-resolution laser arm and medium-range laser scanners to document one of the most complete fossil whales from the Cerro Ballena site. In the background, Smithsonian paleontologist Nick Pyenson reviews data on his laptop while the group works at night in a temporary tent next to the Pan-American Highway in the Atacama Region of Chile, 2011\. Photo credit: Smithsonian Institution From left, Adam Metallo and Vince Rossi from the Smithsonian's Digitization Program Office 3-D Lab a use high-resolution laser arm and medium-range laser scanners to document one of the most complete fossil whales from the Cerro Ballena site. In the background, Smithsonian paleontologist Nick Pyenson reviews data on his laptop while the group works at night in a temporary tent next to the Pan-American Highway in the Atacama Region of Chile, 2011\. Photo credit: Smithsonian Institution Smithsonian Institution by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) Feb 27, 2014 12:42 AM UTC After road construction on the Pan-American Highway revealed a mysterious whale graveyard in Chile, researchers scrambled to figure out why so many of the mammals died in the same spot. After ongoing construction threatened to disrupt scientific studies at the site, Smithsonian paleontologists along with its 3D Digitization Program Office used 3D scanners to take a virtual “snapshot” of the site. That snapshot — which is also being 3D-printed — is allowing researchers to continue their investigation of the site long after the fossils were moved to a local museum. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7218253/3d-printing-whale-graveyard/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7218253/3d-printing-whale-graveyard/"},"headline":"Researchers 3D Print a Whale Graveyard So They Can Study It Later","datePublished":"2014-02-27T00:42:25.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-25T05:51:18.892Z","description":"After road construction on the Pan-American Highway revealed a mysterious whale graveyard in Chile, researchers scrambled to figure out why so many of the mammals...","url":"https://time.com/archive/7218253/3d-printing-whale-graveyard/","keywords":["Paleontology","Smithsonian"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3dd7f1e19400a968/6998b579a97fc03dcda72674/3d_scanning_tent_cerroballena_11.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3dd7f1e19400a968/6998b579a97fc03dcda72674/3d_scanning_tent_cerroballena_11.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"From left: Adam Metallo and Vince Rossi from the Smithsonian's Digitization Program Office 3-D Lab a use high-resolution laser arm and medium-range laser scanners to document one of the most complete fossil whales from the Cerro Ballena site in 2011.","caption":"From left, Adam Metallo and Vince Rossi from the Smithsonian's Digitization Program Office 3-D Lab a use high-resolution laser arm and medium-range laser scanners to document one of the most complete fossil whales from the Cerro Ballena site. 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