From dead fish to national heritage: Karachi’s whale shark’s journey nearly complete

The 40-foot-long shark was found dead on the shore in February.

ISLAMABAD: The journey of a whale shark from the harbour of Karachi to the Pakistan Museum of Natural History is nearly over as preservationists wrap up their work.

The 40.1-foot-long mammal, weighing 15 tons, was found dead in the shallow waters off the Gadani coast in Balochistan in February and was transferred to Islamabad.

After a seven-month process that included taxidermy (stuffing or mounting a dead animal’s hide) and treatment of its skeleton with chemicals, the whale shark has been “fully preserved for the next 500 years”, according to officials.

“We are in the process of preparing a tender for its display and have requested the ministry and UNESCO for funds. Once the bidding process begins, funds will be released,” said the museum’s director, Muhammad Akhtar Javed.

According to the museum’s zoological director, Muhammad Rafique, the preservation cost around Rs600,000, and another Rs800,000 to Rs1 million are needed to mount and finish the display.  “Once the funds come through, it will take approximately two months to complete the project,” he said. “The museum aims to have the mammoth specimen up on display by the end of this year.”

He added that the whale shark had died a natural death, as its stomach was completely empty. “This is one of the largest whale sharks to have been found in the world,” said Rafique. “During preservation, we found that it was around 50 years old, which is the average age of the species.”

When it was found on February 12, officials from the Karachi Fish Harbour Authority had said that a whale shark of this size could easily fetch Rs1.5 million in the international market. The Chinese use its fins to make soup. The liver is also very expensive as its oil is used to make special medicines and lubricate the bottoms of boats.

Around 30 whale sharks have been found dead in Pakistani waters in the past seven years, according to WWF Marine Biologist Moazam Khan.

Once work on the whale shark is complete, the museum will start preserving Saheli, said Rafique. Saheli was a 22-year-old elephant who died in Marghazar Zoo in Islamabad in May. Her heart failed after she was made to sit in an incorrect posture while she was ill.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 18^th, 2012.