A 10-Foot Shark Drew 1.6 Million Visitors to a Busan Canal. On Try 3, She Swam Out

A 10-foot dusky shark that spent more than a month in a canal in downtown Busan, South Korea, swam out of the canal on Wednesday, October 21. Authorities herded it out with a net strung from floating pontoons. It was their third try.²³

South Korea’s oceans ministry said the shark, nicknamed Bukangi, had been successfully guided back into the open sea, according to Reuters.² Several Korean outlets were more cautious. They reported that the shark was spotted at about 6 p.m. in waters off Pier 1 of Busan’s North Port, outside the canal, but had not yet been confirmed to have reached open sea.³⁵ Seoul Economic Daily pointed out that the area is hardly open sea, so the shark could still wander back into the canal.³

Getting it out mattered. Dusky sharks are classified as endangered by the IUCN. Officials judged the rescue necessary because Bukangi had not been seen feeding, falling water temperatures threatened its health, and Korean media reported minor injuries to its fins and snout.²³

A shark with a fan club

The shark was first spotted on September 18 in a narrow waterway at Busan’s North Port Waterfront Park.²³ The canal sits near high-rise buildings and a major high-speed rail station in the middle of the city.²

South Korea’s National Institute of Fisheries Science identified Bukangi as a female, about 3 meters long. More than 1.6 million people visited the park through October 20 to see her, according to the Busan Infrastructure Corporation.²

Busan even made Bukangi a city mascot, possibly the only one whose fans were all rooting for it to leave town.¹

Third time, with pontoons

The first two attempts did not go well. On September 29, boats and streams of water failed to move the shark. On October 2, crews tried a net 50 meters long and 6.8 meters high, but it snagged on rocks on the canal floor and the operation was called off.²⁷

This time, 10 agencies took part, including the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, the city of Busan, the National Marine Biodiversity Institute of Korea and the National Institute of Fisheries Science.³⁵ The net hung from floating pontoons, with workers on the platform and divers in the water to handle the uneven canal floor. The rocks that defeated the second attempt got their own crew. Drones tracked the shark from above.²³

Crews also reversed the direction of the push. They herded the shark toward the Marina Bridge and fixed a net about 60 meters from the canal exit.³

Busan Mayor Chun Jae-soo made a pledge, according to the Associated Press:¹

“We will do everything we can until the very end to ensure Bukangi’s safe return to nature.”

On Facebook, the mayor wrote that the shark had become a friend to the entire country and that saying goodbye was heartbreaking.¹

Lee Min-jeung, a 39-year-old travel content creator from Seoul, summed up the mood carefully. “I’m relieved that it seems to have returned to the sea,” she said, according to Reuters.²

Still being watched

Large shark sightings have been rising in South Korean waters, and experts cite warming seas as one possible reason. The fisheries institute recorded 46 sightings of large sharks on the east coast in the first half of 2026, up from 12 in the same period of 2025.²

As for Bukangi, Korean outlets report that authorities will keep tracking her movements and health until she fully leaves for the open sea.⁵⁶