03 Pilot-Whales dead after mass beaching on Sri Lanka's West Coast

Dr. Tharaka Prasad, the Director of Wildlife Health at the Department of Wildlife Conservation speaking to News 1st said the beaching could have been caused by many reasons, of which some are unknown.

One of the three pilot-whales was discovered from Panadura Beach and the other two were discovered from Wadduwa Beach.

The Department of Wildlife Conservation and the National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency (NARA) will be conducting the postmortem on the dead mammals.

Sailors from the Sri Lanka Navy and the coastguard joined local volunteers including fishermen, villagers, and private organization and had pushed back at least 100 whales by dawn on Tuesday after a grueling overnight rescue

'Sri Lanka Navy provided the man-power to the Sri Lanka Coast Guard who were the first responders to the situation,' said Sri Lanka Navy Spokesperson Captain India De Silva.