In the middle of September, people walking along a canal in a South Korean city saw something they couldn’t believe.
A fin. A big one. Slicing slowly through the water of a narrow city waterway.
It was a shark. And she would end up staying for more than a month.
A Shark in the Middle of the City
It happened in Busan, a big port city on South Korea’s southern coast.
The shark was first spotted on September 18, in an artificial canal at North Port Waterfront Park.
She was a female dusky shark, nearly 10 feet long, The Associated Press reported. About 3.5 meters.
The waterway she was in was narrow. According to the National Institute of Fisheries Science, it was just 3 meters deep.
Somehow, she had swum in. But she couldn’t seem to find her way back out.
The City Fell in Love
People gave her a name: Bukangi.
It comes from “Bukhang,” the Korean name for Busan’s North Port, plus the suffix “-i,” The Straits Times explained.
She slowly circled the canal, day after day, her fin cutting through the surface.
And people came to see her. Then more people. Then crowds.
Busan officials made her a city mascot, the AP reported. More than 1.7 million visitors came to the canal.
A Shark That Wasn’t Eating
But behind all the excitement, there was a real worry.
Experts said Bukangi had shown no signs of feeding during her whole month in the canal, according to the AP.
The water was getting colder as autumn set in. That was another danger for her.
She also had wounds. A marine biology professor told SBS they appeared to come from the hungry shark scraping the bottom, searching for prey.
She needed to go home to the open sea. The question was how.
Two Attempts That Failed
Officials tried on September 29. Then they tried again on October 2.
Boats sprayed streams of water to steer her. Nets were placed across the narrow waterway.
Bukangi avoided the boats. And she swam right over the nets.
Weeks went by. The water kept getting colder.
The Long Day on October 21
On Wednesday, October 21, they tried a third time.
This time, workers slowly moved a large floating platform along the canal toward her.
Workers stood on the platform with oars. Whenever Bukangi came close, they gently pushed her back.
Dozens more workers lined both banks, pulling ropes to drag the whole platform forward, inch by inch.
Hundreds of people lined the canal to watch, the AP reported.
They pushed the platform about a kilometer toward the mouth of the canal. Extra netting went up behind it so she couldn’t turn back.
At the mouth, Bukangi lingered. But at last, around 6 p.m., she swam out to sea.
Busan Mayor Chun Jae-soo said goodbye on Facebook.
“We will never forget the great interest people have shown for Bukangi and Busan’s waters,” he wrote. “We hope Bukangi can live a healthy life in the blue sea.”
Five Hours Later, She Came Back
Then, at around 11 p.m. that same night, Bukangi came back.
She had squeezed through a gap between the barrier net and the seabed, SBS reported. About five hours after she left.
Experts thought noise from nearby boats might have upset her.
“Underwater noise from vessel navigation, strong lights, and external stimuli may have disrupted the individual’s sensory organs,” Kim Hyun-woo, a senior researcher at the National Institute of Fisheries Science, told SBS, in its English translation.
Plenty of visitors were simply happy to see her again.
“There is such a thing as a homing instinct. I hope it stays around a bit longer so more people can see it,” one visitor, Hwang Jong-hyun, told SBS.
Letting Her Choose
This time, the people in charge made a gentle decision. No more pushing.
The next day, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries opened the first barrier and waited for her to leave on her own.
“Its diving times are increasing and the depths are getting deeper,” Kim Hyun-sung of the ministry told SBS.
“We judged that further open-sea herding could cause unnecessary stress and make adaptation difficult,” he said.
And Bukangi did leave. Quietly. On her own terms.
“No Health Problems”
On the morning of October 23, she was last seen near Pier 1 of Busan Port. Then she disappeared for a while.
On the afternoon of October 24, researchers found her again, about 2 kilometers away, near the Busan Port International Passenger Terminal.
They watched her from about noon until 3 p.m. She was moving normally, with no injuries, The Asia Business Daily reported.
“After living for more than a month in a narrow waterway with a depth of just 3 meters, Bukangi is expanding its range and adapting to a new environment,” an institute official said.
“We have confirmed that it has no health problems.”
Experts expect her to keep moving farther out to sea, step by step.
Why So Many People Cared
A shark is not the animal most people picture when they think of a rescue.
But for more than a month, a whole city watched one lost shark circle a narrow canal. And they worried about her.
Workers spent long hours pulling ropes and holding oars, just to point her toward home.
And when she came back, they didn’t force her. They gave her time.
Somewhere off the coast of Busan, Bukangi is swimming in deeper water now. Free.
Would you have gone to the canal to see her? Tell us in the comments.
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