Busan's canal shark is a crowd-pleaser — and a climate warning
A copper shark stranded in a Busan canal has drawn crowds, but rising numbers of large-shark catches off Korea’s east coast and significantly warmer waters point to larger environmental challenges.
Onlookers watch Bukang-i, a shark that has lingered in a canal at North Port Waterfront Park in Dong District, Busan, on Sept. 29. Officials used boats and water pumps to try to steer the shark toward the open sea.NEWS1
While a shark stuck for nearly two weeks in an artificial canal at a Busan waterfront park has become a national attraction, some are instead seeing its visit as a serious warning about the warming seas around Korea.
Large sharks are turning up far more often off the east coast, according to data the National Institute of Fisheries Science released Wednesday. From January through August, 73 large sharks were caught as bycatch in fishing gear off the east coast, 2.5 times the 29 caught during the same period last year.
Shortfin makos accounted for the most, at 37, followed by salmon sharks and blue sharks at 10 each and copper sharks and hammerheads at five each.
The Busan shark, nicknamed Bukang-i after Bukhang, the Korean name for the city's North Port, is believed to be a copper shark. It was first spotted in the canal at North Port Waterfront Park on Sept. 18.
Large sharks do not hurt coastal fisheries, but they can injure people, so swimmers, divers and others enjoying marine leisure activities need to be careful.
The rise in large shark sightings off the east coast is widely attributed to sea temperatures climbing with climate change. As the East Sea warms, species that favor warm currents are spreading farther, and the sharks are following.
A shark is seen in the waters of North Port Waterfront Park in Dong District, Busan, on Sept. 23.NEWS1
Surface water temperatures in the seas around Korea rose 1.6 degrees Celsius (2.9 degrees Fahrenheit) from 1968 through last year, more than twice the global average increase over the same period. Off the east coast, a strengthening Tsushima Warm Current, which flows through the Korea Strait, and East Korea Warm Current are speeding up the rise.
The change is reshaping where fish are found. Pacific bluefin tuna, a key prey of sharks, is the prime example of a warm-water species whose catch off the east coast has grown. Bluefin were once caught mainly in the waters around Jeju, but the catch off the east coast has surged in recent years.
Catches of Japanese jack mackerel, Japanese Spanish mackerel and yellowtail have also been rising in Korean coastal waters, a trend attributed to warmer seas creating better conditions for them.
Japanese flying squid, by contrast, is the best-known species whose catch has fallen as the water warms, with its fishing grounds shifting north as the East Sea heats up.
People gather to see a shark swimming in the waters of North Port Waterfront Park in Dong District, Busan, on Sept. 20.YONHAP
Catches of filefish, Alaska pollock and Pacific saury have also declined. Fishing for pollock has been banned entirely since 2019 to keep the stock from collapsing.
“This is not the time to cheer and enjoy the shark, but to realize how serious this is and begin a fundamental transformation of our lives and systems,” the Green Party Korea said in a recent statement on Bukang-i. “The shark's appearance is a warning to all of us.”
Bukang-i stayed put on Tuesday despite a rescue operation in which the Coast Guard used water pumps to try to drive it out of the canal. The Coast Guard plans to try again on Friday, this time with nets.
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.
