'Bukang,' the large shark that was meant to be released back into the sea, has returned to its sanctuary just a day later. On October 2, the city of Busan and the National Institute of Fisheries Science launched a major joint rescue operation to guide Bukang to the ocean and even installed a 50-meter barrier net in the Bukhang Waterfront Park waterway, but the shark made a mockery of these efforts. Taking advantage of high tide around noon on October 3, when the water level rose and the top of the net became loose, it effortlessly swam over the barrier and returned to the channel between the pedestrian bridges where it had been staying.

According to Professor Kim Jin-goo of Pukyong National University, the 3.5-meter-long Bukang is believed to be a spinner shark or a blacktip shark, and is already a fully grown adult. Experts suggest that the shark views this man-made waterway—rich with mullet for food and warm in temperature—as a safe haven or a birthing site. It seems the shark's instinct and cleverness to return to its home proved superior to human efforts involving water pumps and net barriers.

Determining that further forced capture or rescue operations might cause the shark even more stress, Busan City has decided to pivot from physically invasive rescue attempts to a safety monitoring mode for the time being. As citizens flock to Bukhang Waterfront Park over the holiday to catch a glimpse of Bukang, the number of cumulative visitors has already surpassed 700,000. The authorities have deployed a large number of safety personnel to the site to prevent potential accidents. As it is expected that the shark will naturally head back to the sea once temperatures drop with the arrival of winter, a period of flexible coexistence—watching this special visitor from a safe distance—is expected to follow.

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