It took two cranes and more than four hours to lift the seven-tonne fish on to a jetty. Fishermen said it was found dead in shallow water off Gadani, local media reported.

The enormous specimen was later sold for 1.7 million Rupees (about $17,000), the ABC reported.

A man who claims to have found the shark told The Express Tribune that "it was dead when my men found it''.

"We will try to auction it. Let's see what it fetches us."

The shark will be put on public display for three days and the buyer will charge visitors, a fisheries dealer told the Tribune.

Pakistani marine biologist at the WWF Moazam Khan said that about 30 whale sharks have been found dead in Pakistani waters in the past seven years.

"No one kills them intentionally now," he said.

He said the whale shark was an endangered species and should not be killed in any case.