Shark returns to Busan canal after rescue watched by crowds

Rescue workers in Busan, South Korea, guided a shark out of a canal before hundreds of spectators, but reports on 22 October said it had returned hours later, leaving authorities seeking another way to move it to open water after more than a month.²⁴⁵

A departure followed by a return

The operation was the third effort to free Bukangi. The Guardian and The New York Times reported on 21 October that the shark had been guided out. Subsequent reports described its return, qualifying the earlier accounts of a completed rescue.¹³⁴⁵

According to the BBC, workers spent more than eight hours using a net to steer the roughly three-metre shark towards open harbour water. Hundreds of spectators cheered and waved as it departed, but it was still in the canal the following day.²

Reports published by the Sitka Sentinel and Winnipeg Free Press said dozens of workers manoeuvred a floating platform during Wednesday’s operation. The shark subsequently swam beneath the platform’s outer barrier net and back into the waterway. Officials said it was between that barrier and another net about 50 metres inside the canal entrance.⁴⁵

Earlier attempts on 29 September and 2 October used boats spraying water and nets stretched across the canal. According to those reports, Bukangi avoided the boats and crossed over the nets rather than leaving the waterway.⁴⁵

Crowds and overnight patrols

The Guardian reported that the shark, which it described as a female dusky shark, had been in the canal since 18 September. The Guardian and BBC reported that the animal drew over 1.6 million people, while subsequent accounts said Busan officials placed the total at more than 1.7 million.¹²⁴⁵

The attention extended beyond daytime crowds. The Guardian described a group called Jagyeongdan, made up mostly of YouTubers, whose members took turns patrolling the waterfront at night. They tried to stop visitors shining torches and lasers into the water. The waterfront park was closed to the public overnight.¹

The Guardian reported that a visitor’s torch probably startled the shark into striking the canal wall and injuring its snout. That explanation was not established across the dossier’s sources. One of the volunteer watchers, Choi Won-jin, described their role simply: “We’re ordinary members of the public.”¹

Health concerns remain

Busan authorities and South Korea’s oceans ministry say getting Bukangi into open water is important for its health and safety. Officials said they had seen no indication of regular feeding during its month in the canal and warned that cooling water could create further health risks.⁴⁵

According to the Guardian, the National Institute of Fisheries Science said the shark’s physiological functions would begin to decline below 15C, with survival becoming uncertain around 11C. Busan officials expected the canal to reach 11C after mid-November, giving the continuing rescue effort a temperature-related deadline.¹