It turned out to be 34.5 feet long and weighed 14.5 tonnes, according to one of the officials who measured the carcass. Initially it was reported to be around 36 feet long and weigh seven tonnes. – Fahim Siddiqui / White Star

KARACHI, Feb 9: The giant whale shark carcass at the city harbour was weighed and measured by officials of the Marine Fisheries Department on Thursday.

It has now been shifted to the building once used as a natural history museum before its collection was shifted to the Pakistan Museum of Natural History in Islamabad.

The museum, being run under the Zoological Survey Department, was closed down on account of non-payment of rent to the Karachi Fish Harbour Authority (KFHA).

Speaking to Dawn , Zahid Ali Bhurgari, provincial minister for fisheries, said that efforts would be made to preserve the specimen and keep it at a museum. “A team from the Pakistan Museum of Natural History in Islamabad has been invited here so that the possibility of preserving the specimen could be explored,” he said, adding that foreign experts were also due on Friday to document the species and guide local scientists in analysing samples from the specimen.

Regarding the issue of compensating fishermen, Abdul Ghani Jokhio, managing director of the KFHA, said that Rs500,000 had been given to the person who had bought the fish from fishermen that got hold of the carcass and brought it to the harbour.

“We compensated him because he, along with his friends, spent money to take the fish out of the channel with the help of two cranes, besides paying Rs200,000 to the fishermen who brought the fish,” he said.