▲ Crowds flock to a waterfront park in the southeastern city of Busan to catch a glimpse of a shark trapped in a canal, as rescue operations to guide the shark to the open sea are under way on Oct. 2, 2026. (Yonhap)

BUSAN, Oct. 3 (Yonhap) -- A shark trapped in a canal in the southeastern city of Busan has returned to the waterway a day after authorities managed to guide it to near the canal's outlet to the open sea, officials said Saturday.

The shark, named "Bukang-i," crossed the 50-meter-long, 6.8-meter-high net installed by a joint rescue team the previous day and returned to the inside of the canal at around noon, according to officials.

The rescue team, comprising city and Coast Guard officials, had installed the net as part of a rescue operation to escort the shark out of the canal at Busan's North Port on Friday.

However, the net became stuck to the bottom of the canal and the shark showed no intention of moving out, leading the authorities to halt the rescue operation and fixed the net some 100 meters from the canal exit.

It marked the second attempt to rescue the shark, after the initial attempt on Tuesday involving only water streams, without the net, failed as the animal repeatedly escaped by swimming behind the boats.

Bukang-i -- a combination of Bukhang, or North Port, and the Korean suffix "i" -- had attracted more than 700,000 visitors as of Saturday since it was first spotted in the canal on Sept. 18.

Large swaths of crowds have flocked over to the waterfront park in the southeastern port city to catch a glimpse of the 3.5-meter shark, which was named an honorary ambassador of the city of Busan earlier this week.

Authorities have stepped up patrols in anticipation of large crowds during the holiday period, which runs through Monday.

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[ⓒ K-VIBE. 무단전재-재배포 금지]