{"id":52430,"date":"2020-11-08T11:13:33","date_gmt":"2020-11-08T11:13:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/?p=52430"},"modified":"2024-01-20T10:38:03","modified_gmt":"2024-01-20T10:38:03","slug":"after-100-pilot-whales-get-stranded-on-beach-sri-lankans-mount-epic-rescue-by-malaka-rodrigo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/after-100-pilot-whales-get-stranded-on-beach-sri-lankans-mount-epic-rescue-by-malaka-rodrigo\/","title":{"rendered":"After 100+ Pilot Whales Get Stranded on Beach, Sri Lankans Mount Epic Rescue – by Malaka Rodrigo"},"content":{"rendered":"

After 100+ Pilot Whales Get Stranded on Beach, Sri Lankans Mount Epic Rescue – by Malaka Rodrigo<\/span><\/h1>\n

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Source:<\/span>Science<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Panadura, Sri Lanka:<\/strong>\u00a0Volunteers in Sri Lanka defied the ongoing\u00a0COVID-19 second wave<\/a>\u00a0to join a mammoth overnight rescue effort to push more than 100 stranded pilot whales back into the sea. At least five whales were reported to have died despite the efforts.<\/span><\/p>\n

The whales beached in the southwestern town of\u00a0Panadura<\/a>, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from Colombo, on November 2. Local fishers first noticed the unusual scene at around 1:30 p.m.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey first appeared as a dark patch in the horizon and kept on moving toward the shore like a giant wave,\u201d said fisherman Upul Ranjith. \u201cWe tried to push them back to the sea, but they kept returning to the beach as if they wished to commit suicide.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The villagers alerted police, and soon 28 personnel from the area coast guard station had joined the rescue operation, along with dozens of volunteers. But because of lockdown measures in force in the area, volunteers, scientists and environmentalists had to first obtain curfew passes to join the mammoth rescue mission.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The rescuers trying to pull a beached pilot whale under the headlights of jeeps. Photo courtesy: Asha de Vos.<\/em><\/p>\n

A community effort<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Asha de Vos<\/a>, a marine mammal expert at the conservation research and outreach NGO\u00a0Oceanswell<\/a>, identified the stranded whales as\u00a0short-finned pilot whale<\/a>s (Globicephala macrorhynchus<\/em>), which are known to strand in large numbers frequently. When de Vos reached Panadura that evening, the rescuers had managed to push back some of the stranded whales into the sea, but dozens remained in the shallow water and kept on returning to the beach.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cRescuing these animals is not just about rolling them out to sea again. It\u2019s a little more complicated than that as it is important to refloat the animals as soon as possible and guide them back to deeper waters to prevent them getting pushed back to the shore,\u201d de Vos told\u00a0<\/span>Mongabay<\/span><\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

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