According to media reports in Pakistan, fishermen caught a 12-foot whale shark off the coast of Karachi on Friday.

The whale-shark, weighing around 4 tonnes, was dragged to the Karachi Fish Harbour on Friday morning. Several people gathered at the harbour to catch a glimpse of the large fish. Jumman, the captain of the fishing vessel caught the fish along with his 14-member crew.

He said that the fish dropped its net between Charna and Somyani on Thursday noon and caught the large animal. “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.” He said.

After the fish was dragged to the harbour, a crane was used to lift the fish from the water. Jumman said that catching such large fish is nor profitable for the fishermen as it is difficult sell in the market. He said that the meat is proscribed, but the liver oil and fats can be used and thus he is asking for about Rs. 300,000 for the fish.

Anees Soomro, the director of operations at the Karachi Fish Harbour Authority said that the whale shark is not decomposed and that there were signs of injury on the body. A person on the fishing boat said that the fish might have been hit by the propeller of a cargo ship.