SRI LANKA

Villagers defy curfew to rescue stranded whales

Earlier this month Sri Lankan villagers defied a coronavirus curfew to join the Navy, wading into breaking surf to push stranded whales back into the sea.

Pooling their manpower and expertise in a joint overnight operation, Sri Lanka’s navy, coast guard, local volunteers and conservation experts rescued nearly 120 stranded whales back into the deep sea. The whales had been stranded on the beach at Panadura, south of Colombo. Battling crashing waves, the operation went on well into the night.

Asha de Vos, a Sri Lankan marine biologist, in an Instagram post said – based on the images obtained the whales are pilot whales, a species known to strand.

Sri Lanka’s Marine Environment Protection Authority (MEPA), which sent their officials to help with the rescue operation, said it was the largest single pod of whales stranded in the South Asian country.

The causes of mass whales getting stranded remain unknown despite scientists having been studying the phenomenon for decades.

(Images from Reuters and AFP)