Subscribe to our WhatsApp Channel
A hair-raising video tore through social media showing the sea seemingly lunging onto land, seawater surging visibly toward the shore, igniting panic over an imminent coastal flood or storm surge. With memories of tsunami scares still fresh, the clip spread fast in Sri Lankan feeds. Here are the posts that carried it, and what officials and the site where it was filmed told us.
Social Media Posts
The video kept circulating with captions such as “The sea is flooding onto land,” “What is happening?” and “This just happened moments ago, the vast sea surging onto shore, God knows what is about to befall Sri Lanka.”
Facebook | Facebook | Facebook
Fact-Check
The Video Was Filmed at a Sea Turtle Conservation Centre in Kosgoda
When we examined the frames of the viral video closely, we noticed a board in one frame reading “Sea Turtle Research and Conservation Centre.” Our check confirmed that this location is the Victor Hasselblad Sea Turtle Research and Conservation Centre in Kosgoda, in Sri Lanka’s Southern Province.
A comparison of a frame from the viral video with a frame from a video the Kosgoda Sea Turtle Research and Conservation Centre published in 2025 is below. Google Videos.
We then contacted the center and asked whether seawater had recently come onto land there. The center confirmed that the video circulating on social media was recently filmed on the grounds of the Victor Hasselblad Sea Turtle Research and Conservation Centre in Kosgoda.
They added that because this is the monsoon (‘වාරකන්’) season, seawater reaching land at that location is normal and an ordinary occurrence.
Official Sources: Department of Meteorology and Disaster Management Centre
Whenever Sri Lanka faces a risk of coastal flooding, rough seas, or a tsunami, the Department of Meteorology and the Disaster Management Centre inform the public, and mainstream media relay those advisories. We therefore checked whether any such warning about coastal flooding had been issued.
The Department of Meteorology had warned as early as two weeks ago that seas around the island could turn rough.
Over the past two to three weeks, mainstream media reported the Department’s warnings that waves could reach the shore amid the prevailing weather, including an instance where waves reached the shore in the Galle area. Those reports are available here and here.
Recently filmed footage showing sand and fish washed up on the Galle Road as sea waves reached the shore in the Galle area is available here.
A weather advisory issued by the Department of Meteorology for September 12 to 13 also stated that waves could reach the shore during that period.
According to that advisory, wave heights in offshore marine areas from Chilaw through Galle, Matara, and Hambantota to Pottuvil could reach about 2.0 to 3.0 meters, though it clarified this is not the height of waves coming ashore. It added that waves might reach the shore in areas from Beruwala through Galle to Matara.
The September 15 Report Warned Only of Rough Seas, Not Waves Reaching the Shore
We also checked the Department of Meteorology’s report for the 24-hour period covering the island’s coastal areas from September 15. According to that forecast, offshore sea areas from Colombo through Galle, Matara, and Hambantota to Pottuvil may occasionally be somewhat rough, and where thundershowers occur, temporarily strong winds could make them very rough for short spells. The report made no mention of waves reaching the shore.
Director General of the Department of Meteorology, Ajith Wijemanne
We contacted Director General of the Department of Meteorology Ajith Wijemanne for clarification. He said the Department had warned of waves rising to two to three meters in recent days but confirmed that waves of that magnitude do not reach the shore. He noted that rough seas during the monsoon, with occasional inflows of seawater onto land, are a normal occurrence and urged the public not to develop unwarranted fear.
Disaster Management Centre Media Spokesperson, Pradeep Kodippili
We also contacted the Disaster Management Centre’s media spokesperson, Pradeep Kodippili, who confirmed that seawater may reach coastal areas during this period because of the monsoon. He said the Department of Meteorology had issued forecasts on this and that such instances had indeed been observed, but that it is a normal monsoon-season occurrence, does not resemble a tsunami, poses no harm, and is not cause for alarm. This same footage had also spread earlier alongside false tsunami claims, which we addressed in an earlier fact-check here.
Join Us
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Google News | TikTok
Join us to learn more about our fact-check investigations.
Conclusion
Our fact-check shows that the video circulating on social media, shared to create undue public fear as though the sea were flooding onto land in an imminent disaster, is misleading.
The footage was filmed at the Victor Hasselblad Sea Turtle Research and Conservation Centre in Kosgoda. Because this is the monsoon season, seawater reaching land at that location is a normal, ordinary occurrence, as the center itself confirmed to us.
From about three weeks ago, the Department of Meteorology issued notices that seas around Sri Lanka could turn rough during this period and that waves could at times reach the shore. Those advisories never described an escalation into a flood or a tsunami and asked only that the public stay alert.
The Department of Meteorology and the Disaster Management Centre both confirm that some seawater reaching land during the monsoon is normal and is neither harmful nor cause for undue fear. Director General Ajith Wijemanne and spokesperson Pradeep Kodippili said the same. The video is missing this context.
In its latest notice, issued on September 15, the Department of Meteorology said seas from Galle and Matara through Hambantota to Pottuvil may be rough. Accordingly, it is important for those engaged in fishing activities to take care.
Title: Viral “Sea Flooding the Shore” Video Shows No Imminent Coastal Flood, Just Routine Monsoon Rough Seas at a Kosgoda Turtle Centre
Fact Check By: B. P. Hansani
Result: Missing Context
