A dusky shark stranded in a Busan canal was guided back toward the sea

A female dusky shark about three metres long, stranded in a Busan canal since September 18, was guided out on a third attempt. South Korea's oceans ministry said the operation on Wednesday, October 21, 2026, succeeded. The Guardian reported the rescue the same day. People have been calling her Bukang-i, after the North Port district. Dusky sharks are an endangered species. Officials expect her to keep moving toward open water. They have not confirmed that she has reached it.

She drew more than 1.6 million visitors to a waterfront that used to see about 2,000 people on a busy Saturday. Night watchers, including Choi Won-jin, Na Tae-soo, and Kim Jong-hwan, asked the crowds not to shine torches. A fisheries institute later found a scrape on her snout, likely from a startle when a light hit the water. The waterfront was closed from midnight to 5 a.m. Dusky sharks prefer water around 18 to 26 degrees Celsius. Specialists treat about 15 degrees as the point where the animals decline, and about 11 as precarious. The city expected that colder water after mid-November, which is why the October attempt mattered. Along the east coast, 46 large sharks were recorded in the first half of 2026, nearly four times the year before, a change researchers link to warmer seas and more prey.