Sri Lankan rescuers have returned 100 whales to the ocean after a mass grounding on Monday, the nation’s naval force has said.

Scores of short-finned pilot whales started coming shorewards at Panadura, 25 kilometers (15 miles) south of Colombo, on Monday evening, and specialists were assembled to help them back to the ocean.

Local people joined authorities from Sri Lanka’s naval force and coast monitor in keeping an eye on the whales.

Sri Lanka’s Marine Environment Protection Authority (MEPA) said that it was the biggest single case of whales abandoned in the South Asian nation.

“It is bizarre for such an enormous number to arrive at our shores,” MEPA boss Dharshani Lahandapura stated, adding that the reason for the abandoning was not known.

Salvage groups worked during that time with help from the naval force, coast gatekeeper, lifeguards, and inhabitants.

“On the solicitation of Commander of the Navy, Vice Admiral Nishantha Ulugetenne, Jet skis gave by a nearby water sports club were used to pull the whales once more into the sea for the duration of the day and night,” the Sri Lanka Navy explanation said.

The demise of four whales is being researched. The naval force said that the whales may have followed one whale off base and become abandoned.

In September, almost 500 whales stranded in Tasmania, Australia, in that state’s biggest actually grounding. In any event a third passed on during salvage endeavors.

Whales are exceptionally social creatures and travel in cases, yet the reasons for mass strandings are not satisfactory.