Sept 23, Colombo: Two dead blue whales have been washed ashore Sunday at Wellamadama in Matara district of Southern Sri Lanka.

One of the blue whales was 50 feet long while the other one was 20 feet long. Environmentalists suspect the blue whales have been hit by a ship.

International shipping lanes in the Indian Ocean with busy commercial ship traffic run about 12 nautical kilometers south of Sri Lanka's Hambantota port.

The sea off Sri Lanka's southern coast is a habitat of a large population of whales including some rare blue whales and the whales are known to swim among the shipping lanes.

Environmentalists have suggested shifting the international shipping lines further deep into sea to save the lives of these species.

However, the government objects to the suggestion since such a move would affect the commercial value of Sri Lanka's newly built Hambantota harbor.