KARACHI: A rare specimen of great Indian Rorqual, commonly known as the blue whale, has been found about five miles west of Pasni in the Mekran coast. The skeleton of the biggest whale found in the Sub-Continent since 1879 is being articulated for display in the National History Museum of the Zoological Survey Department at the Karachi Fish Harbour.

The scattered bones of the skeleton, with few of them missing, were brought to Karachi by the Zoological Survey Department in their launch “Talaash” from Pasni with the assistance of the Fisheries Department stationed there recently.

According to experts, such a specimen is not found in the Museums of India, Burma and Ceylon. The entire length of the skeleton has been measured at 65 feet. There were 15 ribs, 57 vertebrae, length of lower jaw was 18 feet, and the length of the skull 17 feet six inches.

Previous records show that a similar whale ... was found on the Clifton beach in 1879. In 1965, some pieces of a skeleton of an Indian Rorqual were found from Juddi (Pasni), Mekran coast.

Published in Dawn, January 10th, 2019