To sum up, Sri Lanka’s location, marine topography and double-monsoon weather system make it an unusually hospitable location for marine mammals of many species. Seven natural factors combine to produce an island ecology offering a wide variety of marine habitats, making Sri Lanka one of the best places in the world to see whales and […]
The territorial waters of Sri Lanka extend 22km (12nm) beyond the coastline and cover an area of about 21,500km2. In addition, the country enjoys rights to an UNmandated ‘exclusive economic zone’ that extends outward 370km (200nm) from its shores and covers an area of about 510,000km². Besides having sovereign rights to resources in the water
River outflows provide the raw organic material at the base of the marine food chain. A total of 103 perennial and seasonal rivers flow from Sri Lanka into the surrounding seas, which are also fed by the numerous rivers and streams draining the southern Deccan Peninsula in India. There is a high degree of variation,
The coasts of Sri Lanka are usually well supplied with lagoons and estuaries. On the castern and southern coasts, they form a more or less interconnected chain running from Point Pedro to Dondra Head, their topography constantly changing under the influence of weather and tide. These transition zones between sea and land, where the salinity
The Indian Ocean as a whole has a mean depth of 3,900m, increasing to a maximum of about 8,000m. Within the 200-nautical-mile (370km) radius of Sri Lanka’s exclusive economic zone, its maximum depth is about 6,000m.The continental shelf on which the island sits has a mean depth of 75m and forms part of the Asian
The lonely helmsman, lost at sea, hears women’s voices singing a powerful, seductive melody. Perhaps the moon is high, and he glimpses them – seated upon a reef of sea-girt rock, some combing their hair, others beckoning him nearer. Hypnotised by their beauty and their song, he puts his tiller round and steers straight for
Marine mammals in the wild are rarely easy to identify. Even under ideal conditions, observers may not enjoy more than a glimpse: a splash, a spout, a brief view of a dorsal fin, head, back or flukes – seen, more often than not, at a considerable distance. Rough weather, glare from reflected sunlight, mist, fog,
Experts disagree on where and by what routes whales arrive and depart the water around Sri Lanka. Reliable migration data on cetaceans in the Indian Ocean is thin Many hypotheses have been and continue to be proposed in various publications The information given below is based on the latest studies and data; however, it must
As is the case with many other animals, several marine mammal species are migratory, often making astonishingly long journeys across the oceans of the world. Many large cetaceans, such as blue whales and humpbacks, migrate between high and low latitudes, moving from their chilly Arctic and Antarctic habitats to tropical and sub-tropical regions in order
Whales have rarely been observed in the act of mating – partly because the act appears to be of very brief duration – though one instance of humpback whale copulation has been captured on camera. Behaviour prior to copulation has, however, been observed. This varies from species to species. Some baleen whales, such as blues
