Stray Shark Breaks Through Net Back Into Busan Canal

A shark that has captivated South Korea for more than a month swam right back into a narrow canal in Busan overnight, slipping through a barrier net just hours after rescuers finally coaxed it out to sea.

X user METALice32109 filmed the scene at North Port Waterfront Park on the morning of October 22, writing that there weren’t many people around before work and wondering whether “Bukang-i” really didn’t want to leave. The video shows the barrier net, held up by a long line of yellow floats, stretched across the turquoise water of the canal beneath the office towers of the port.

The 3-meter female shark, nicknamed Bukang-i, was first spotted in the man-made canal in Busan’s Dong district on September 18. On October 21, a joint rescue team from the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries and the National Marine Biodiversity Institute of Korea used pontoons, divers and a 50-meter net to herd it out of the canal after a third attempt lasting around eight hours. But at about 11 p.m. that night, the shark squeezed through a gap between the net and the seabed and returned.

More than 1.6 million people have visited the park to see the shark. Officials said it has not been seen feeding for weeks and has shown wounds, and warned that falling water temperatures could threaten it. Authorities have now halted further attempts to force it out, reinforcing the nets and monitoring the shark until it leaves on its own.