A second attempt to guide a shark stranded in a canal in the South Korean port city of Busan back to the open sea ended without success on Friday, with the animal staying in the waterway into a third week.
Rescuers, who had been using a net to try to coax it out, had to end the operation after a two hour chase due to the risk of their huge net getting caught on rocks.
They now hope that the shark will eventually swim out to the open sea on its own, after leaving the net in place to limit how far back up the canal it can swim.
The 3.5-metre (11.48-ft) shark was first spotted in a narrow waterway at North Port on September 18.
Nicknamed “Bukangi”, which is derived from “Buk Hang”, the Korean name for North Port, and the Korean suffix “-i”, about 600,000 people have flocked to the area to see the shark.
Experts say it could be a bronze whaler, a species typically found in warm temperate waters and which has been seen off South Korea’s coasts.
The shark’s prolonged stay drew particular attention because of the unusual location. The narrow canal is situated in North Port, close to high-rise buildings and a major high-speed rail station in the heart of Busan.
