By Malaka Rodrigo
When the sun hung low above the Vidaththaltivu Sea on the morning of November 15, a small fishing crew from Mannar found themselves at the heart of a story far larger than their daily catch. Near eleven in the morning, about 4.25 kilometres off the Kaththalampiddy coast, they discovered something unusual struggling against their ray net; a massive but gentle creature weighing an estimated 300–350 kilograms.
It was a dugong (Dugong dugon) – one of the world’s most threatened marine mammals, and a species declared Critically Endangered nationally in Sri Lanka.
Read more in today's Sunday Times edition here
A short while later, the official car of the Commander of the Navy, bearing plate NAHA 5006, departed from Navy House, Longdon Place, Colombo 7.
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