Race to save 100 whales in Sri Lanka's biggest mass beaching

Rescuers and volunteers were racing to save about 100 pilot whales stranded on Sri Lanka’s western coast in the country’s biggest mass beaching.

The short-finned pilot whales began beaching at Panadura, 15 miles (25km) south of Colombo, shortly before dusk. Within an hour their numbers swelled to about 100, a local police chief, Sanjaya Irasinghe, said.

“With the help of local residents we are trying to push them back [into the ocean],” he said. “But they keep getting washed ashore. We are getting help from the navy to rescue these whales.”

The national Marine Environment Protection Authority (Mepa), whose officials were helping with the rescue operation, said it was the largest single pod of whales stranded in Sri Lanka.

“It is very unusual for such a large number to reach our shores,” Mepa’s chief, Dharshani Lahandapura, said, adding that the cause of the stranding was not known. “We think this is similar to the mass stranding in Tasmania in September.”

The beaching of 470 pilot whales in a remote harbour in Tasmania was Australia’s largest ever. About 110 whales were saved in a rescue effort that took days.

Pilot whales, which can grow up to six metres (20ft) and weigh a tonne, are highly social.

The causes of mass strandings remain unknown, despite scientists studying the phenomenon for decades.