Dej vu: Another whale shark comes to Karachi, Pakistan, almost a year to the day !!

By Our Correspondent / Photo: Athar Khan

February 2, 2013

The whale shark that was dragged to the fish harbour on Friday morning has been stuffed with ice to slow down the rate of decay. There are no wounds on its body and the cause of its death has yet to be determined. PHOTO: ATHAR KHAN/EXPRESS

KARACHI:

In a scene which is likely to have elicited déjà vu, a seven-metre long dead whale shark was dragged into the Karachi Fish Harbour on Friday morning.

The female whale-shark, weighing around 4 tonnes, was smaller in size than the one which fishermen dragged to the harbour on February 7 last year. By comparison, the previous specimen, which is now on display at the Pakistan Museum of Natural History in Islamabad, was around 40 feet long and weighed a massive 15 tonnes.

Scores of excited onlookers gathered at the harbour to catch a glimpse of the animal, which was packed with ice to slow down the rate of decay. Some young men leapt on the body of the whale shark and began posing for photos. Nearly everyone around the dead whale shark had whipped out their mobile phones and snapped away. Some children began playing with the whale shark’s fin.

Jumman, 35, the captain of the fishing vessel which towed the whale shark to harbour, recounted how he stumbled upon the animal to a captivated audience. His 14-member crew had dropped their trawling net into the sea between Charna and Somyani on Thursday noon. “We felt that the net was heavier than usual. When we checked what he had caught at around 3pm, much to our surprise, we found a whale shark.” Once the dead fish was dragged to the Karachi harbour, a crane was used to lift it out of the water.

For Pakistani fishermen, catching a giant fish is bad omen. “We don’t like to catch an Andhi Mangar (whale shark) because they cannot be sold easily in the market and we can’t make money,” said Jumman, adding that his haul was quite disappointing this time around. “Its meat is proscribed, but we want to get Rs300,000 for the fish as its liver oil and fats can be used,” said Jumman. Allah Dinu, who was also on the boat, speculated that the whale shark might have been hit by the propeller of a cargo ship.

Anees Soomro, the director of operations at the Karachi Fish Harbour Authority, told The Express Tribune that the whale shark has not decomposed as yet and there are no wounds on its body. He, however, said that he could not comment on why the animal had died. “Fishermen’s nets cannot kill whale sharks but this one accidentally got entangled in it,” said Soomro. The harbour authority has sent letters to experts in Karachi University, World Wildlife Fund – Pakistan and other experts to examine the animals. The samples from the whale shark will be given to them on Monday.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 2^{nd, 2013.}

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^{40-foot long whale shark, Karachi, Pakistan was four to five months pregnant *VIDEO* MORE TWIST*UPDATED*}

^{Tuesday, February 7, 2012 14:02}