Celebrity shark guided out of South Korea canal refuses to swim out to sea

Figure caption, Watch: BBC follows operation to rescue shark stranded in South Korean canalByJake Kwon, Seoul correspondent and Koh EwePublished22 October 2026, 05:12 BSTUpdated 13 minutes agoA famed dusky shark in South Korea is continuing to linger near a canal that it was ejected from on Wednesday.The shark, nicknamed Bukangi, became an unlikely sensation after it was spotted swimming in a canal in the south-eastern port city of Busan last month.For weeks, rescuers tried in vain to get her back to the open sea, using nets to guide it out.On Thursday, authorities said they had reinforced barriers to prevent Bukangi from returning. But it has yet to swim out into the open sea, and instead has been seen circling back repeatedly to the mouth of the waterway.In a livestreamed operation on Wednesday, rescue workers took more than eight hours to delicately guide the three-metre-long (10ft) shark with a net towards open water in a harbour.Hundreds of adoring fans gathered at the park overlooking the canal, cheering and waving goodbye to the shark.But then, on Thursday morning, Bukangi reportedly swam back into the canal after breaking through a barrier installed by authorities.For some time, Bukangi was trapped in a tight space between two layers of nets in the canal. Rescuers freed it by removing the outer layer, and have since fortified the remaining layer of nets to prevent it from going back in.Since then, authorities said, Bukangi has been swimming further out but keeps circling back.A government official told the BBC on Thursday afternoon that rescuers have concluded their operations to free the shark.Image source, ReutersImage caption, Authorities had attempted to lead the shark out of the canalIt is thought that Bukangi might have been drawn to the canal by unusually warm waters and plenty of fish. With the sea getting warmer each year, experts say Busan may play host to more sharks in the future.In the month that she has been in the canal, Bukangi has already attracted more than 1.6 million visitors.Its popularity gave a welcome boost to Busan's tourism, and the city has embraced her as an unofficial mascot.But authorities were also concerned about Bukangi's well-being as it appeared to be injured and was not eating. Social media users have been circulating videos of Bukangi swimming in the canal with what appears to be a bloodied snout.There were concerns that it would be further weakened by falling water temperatures.Before this week's operation, there had been two earlier failed attempts to guide Bukangi out of the canal with nets.Related topicsAsiaSouth KoreaSharks