Stranded shark draws 600,000 visitors to Busan canal

Busan, South Korea. A shark stranded in a canal in the port city has drawn about 600,000 visitors over the past two weeks, according to the city. Authorities are planning another attempt to guide it back to the ocean after a rescue operation failed on Tuesday.

Rescue efforts

The 3.5-metre (11.48-foot) shark was first spotted in a narrow North Port waterway on September 18. After it failed to find its way back to the ocean, the Coast Guard and other agencies deployed vessels on Tuesday to spray jets of water behind it, hoping to propel it toward open water. The shark swam away from the streams, according to videos published by Yonhap News Television.

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Officials plan to use a net to try to guide the shark out of the canal on Friday, the Chosun Daily reported.

Visitors and honorary role

Reported to be a bronze whaler, the shark has been nicknamed “Bukangi”, derived from “Buk Hang”, the Korean name for Busan’s North Port, and the Korean suffix “-i”.

About 480,000 people visited the waterfront park where the shark was stranded during the four-day Chuseok holiday last weekend, according to a Busan city statement and media reports. The park’s usual weekend average is around 2,000 visitors a day.

On Tuesday, Busan named the shark an honorary public relations ambassador after 91% of about 8,000 participants in a poll on the city’s official Instagram account approved the move.

Other animals have drawn public attention in South Korea. Earlier this year, a wolf that escaped from a zoo enclosure inspired a cryptocurrency meme coin and prompted a message of concern from the country’s president.