Stranded shark Bukang-i returns to sea after a month

SEOUL – A stranded shark nicknamed Bukang-i made her way out of an artificial waterway in South Korea’s port city of Busan and into the open sea on Oct 21.The female dusky shark, about 3.5m long, was guided out to sea more than a month after being found stranded in the artificial canal at North Port Waterfront Park in Busan on Sept 18.The authorities launched the third attempt to lead her out of the canal on the morning of Oct 21. The operation ended in success about eight hours later at around 6pm.The two previous attempts, one in late September and another earlier in October, had failed.The shark’s nickname combines the Korean name for the North Port of Busan, “Bukhang”, and the suffix “-i”.Bukang-i’s presence drew over 1.6 million visitors to the waterfront park, but concerns about her health grew as the water inside the canal got colder and based on observations by her handlers that they had not seen her eat for the entire month. THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK