Celebrity shark guided out of South Korea canal refuses to swim out to sea

A famed dusky shark in South Korea is still lingering near a canal that it was guided out of on Wednesday.

The shark, nicknamed Bukangi, became an unlikely sensation after it was spotted swimming in a canal in the south-eastern port city of Busan last month. For weeks, rescuers tried in vain to get it back to the open sea using large nets.

On Thursday, authorities said they had reinforced barriers to prevent Bukangi from returning. But it has yet to swim out into the open sea, and has been circling back repeatedly to the mouth of the waterway.

Its rescue prompted mixed reactions in Busan, where some said the shark should stay while others felt it was better for it to go.

In a livestreamed operation on Wednesday, rescue workers took more than eight hours to delicately guide the three-metre-long (10ft) shark with a net towards open water in a harbour.

Hundreds of adoring fans gathered at the park overlooking the canal, cheering and waving goodbye to the shark.

But then, on Thursday morning, Bukangi reportedly swam back into the canal after breaking through a barrier installed by authorities.

For some time, Bukangi was trapped in a tight space between two layers of nets in the canal.

Rescuers freed it by removing the outer layer, and have since fortified the remaining layer of nets to prevent it from going back in.

Since then, authorities said, Bukangi has been swimming further out but keeps circling back.

A government official told the BBC on Thursday afternoon that rescuers had concluded their operations to free the shark.

It is thought that Bukangi might have been drawn to the canal by unusually warm waters and plenty of fish. With the sea getting warmer each year, experts say Busan may play host to more sharks in the future.

In the month that she has been in the canal, Bukangi had already attracted more than 1.6 million visitors.

Its popularity gave a welcome boost to Busan's tourism, and the city embraced it as an unofficial mascot.

But authorities were also concerned about Bukangi's well-being as it appeared to be injured and was not eating.

Social media users have been circulating videos of Bukangi swimming in the canal with what appears to be a bloodied snout.

There were concerns the shark would be further weakened by falling water temperatures.

Before this week's operation, there had been two earlier failed attempts to guide Bukangi out of the canal with nets.

Some in Busan felt it was safer for the shark to remain in the canal. The BBC saw two people holding up cardboard signs protesting against Bukangi's eviction.

One of them was Cho Hannah, who had travelled for two hours from her home in North Gyeongsang province to see the shark.

Bukangi, she insisted, was "a rare gift" to Busan.

"This shark has made this canal her home, and we are kicking her out unnecessarily. I am afraid the shark might die tangled with the net, or die out at sea," she said.

But others like Yoon In-taek said it was only right that Bukangi left.

"Bukangi seemed much larger when I first saw her on 18 September, when she first got here. Now she seems gaunt. I'm worried for her health if she stays," he said.

"It doesn't sit right with me that she keeps returning here. It will be best if Bukangi leaves, doesn't come back, and lives and feeds freely in the open sea. I'd love to see her find a healthy, free life out there," said Shin Seungmin.

Bukangi has "brought so much joy to us", he said, adding that he was sad to see her leave.

"But she should go and live her normal shark life."

Additional reporting by Leehyun Choi.