A shark is seen in the waters of North Port Waterfront Park in Dong District, Busan, on Sept. 23.NEWS1
Busan's unexpected shark visitor may be gone soon, as city authorities are considering guiding it back to the open sea after the Chuseok holiday.
Officials from the Busan city government, Busan Port Authority, Korea Coast Guard's Busan station and National Institute of Fisheries Science met Tuesday to discuss measures regarding the shark at North Port Waterfront Park in Dong District, the city said Wednesday.
Authorities plan to consider measures to guide the shark out to the open sea if it remains in the waterway after the Chuseok holiday, which runs from Thursday through Sunday.
"The shark currently appears to be in good condition, but if it remains in the waterway after the Chuseok holiday, we will consider ways to safely guide it out to the open sea," a Busan city official said.
Safety measures will be strengthened during the holiday in preparation for a potential influx of visitors from across the country hoping to see the shark.
A shark, estimated to be about 3.5 meters (11 feet, 6 inches) long, was spotted in a channel at North Port Waterfront Park in Dong District on Friday. More than 30,000 people visited the park in the five days through Tuesday after the shark unexpectedly entered the waterway.
Crowds lined the railings around the waterway over the weekend, cheering and exclaiming whenever the shark's dorsal fin surfaced for a second or two. Nearby cafes and convenience stores have enjoyed a surge in business from visitors coming to see the shark. Access to a pedestrian bridge over the water was restricted over concerns about accidents and around 50 safety personnel were deployed.
People crowd around a waterway to see a shark at North Port Waterfront Park in Dong District, Busan, on Sept. 20.YONHAP
The artificial waterway is 1.6 kilometers (1 mile) long, 30 to 60 meters wide and 2.5 to 4 meters deep, with a natural seabed and curves slightly at the end, one reason the shark has been circling inside rather than making its way back to the open sea.
"For people looking at the water from above, the route leading from the waterway to the open sea is visible, but from the shark's perspective, it is in the middle of a narrow channel," said Kim Hyun-woo, a researcher at the National Institute of Fisheries Science's Coastal Water Fisheries Resources Research Division. "It keeps running into the concrete walls on both sides of the waterway, leaving it unable to find its way out and causing it to circle."
The Coast Guard initially deployed patrol vessels and other resources in an attempt to guide the shark toward the open sea shortly after it was spotted, but suspended the effort. The fisheries institute advised that trying to force the shark out could cause it stress and make it aggressive.
Authorities also considered the possibility that an attempted rescue could kill the shark, given the lack of experience in Korea with shark rescues.
"The best course of action for now is to keep monitoring the shark while frequently checking its health and swimming ability," Kim said.
People gather at North Port Waterfront Park in Dong District, Busan, to see a shark on Sept. 20.YONHAP
The shark likely reached Busan from Jeju Island amid warming waters caused by climate change before inadvertently entering the waterway. It is believed to be a copper shark, a species that inhabits waters between 12 and 24 degrees Celsius (54 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit). The species has long been found along Korea's coast and is particularly known to pursue schools of yellowtail off the coast of Jeju.
"Climate change is accelerating the northward movement of temperate fish species such as yellowtail, which serve as prey for bronze whalers," Kim said. "As the habitat of their prey has shifted north from Jeju toward Busan, the sharks also appear to have moved as far north as Busan."
Speculation circulated online that the shark may have given birth after a fish about 1 meter long was spotted inside the waterway, but experts say that is highly unlikely.
"Bronze whaler pups are very small, so there is virtually no possibility that a 1-meter fish is a shark pup," Kim said.
The Busan city government is working to identify the fish species and determine whether it has any connection to the shark.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
