A 10-foot-long shark that became a celebrity in South Korea after being trapped in a canal in the southeastern city of Busan for more than a month has returned to the open ocean.
Local officials on Wednesday successfully guided the dusky shark, nicknamed “Bukangi,,” who had been stuck in the waterway at one of the country’s busiest ports, back into open water, according to a local news network’s livestream of the effort. Rescuers attached a wide net to a floating device, which they pulled across the canal using ropes. As the net swept across the water, guiding the shark out, divers made sure it did not get tangled on the canal bed. The process took several hours.
Hundreds of people gathered to watch, with crowds lining both sides of the canal and inching forward as rescuers dragged the net. More tuned in online. “Come back again!” said one online commenter after Bukangi was freed.
The rescue on Wednesday followed two failed attempts. The authorities first tried to guide the shark out of the canal on Sept. 29 using boats and water pumps, but Bukangi dove too far below the surface. The second attempt, on Oct. 2, failed because the rescuers’ net got tangled on the canal bed and the shark managed to swim over it.
The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries and the Busan local government were among several agencies that worked on Wednesday’s rescue mission.
Bukangi, who was named by South Koreans after the Bukhang Waterfront Park, where she was trapped, is over 20 years old, experts say. She is the first wild shark to appear in the canal and has become a sensation in South Korea since being first spotted on Sept. 18. Researchers said they were worried because she had not been feeding and would not survive the colder water temperatures in November. Dusky sharks, which live in temperate to tropical waters, can survive up to a month without food.
Over a million people from around the country visited the park to catch a glimpse of the apex predator. The local government has made her an honorary city ambassador.
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