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.

A similar standing of pilot whales recently occurred in Tasmania as well!