A 3-to-4-meter shark was seen Friday at Busan's Bukhang Waterfront Park; city urges caution

A bull shark measuring 3 to 4 meters swims through a waterway at Bukhang Waterfront Park in Dong-gu, Busan, on Friday. Coast guard officers deployed coastal rescue boats to the scene and, working alongside fire department officials and the National Institute of Fisheries Science, attempted to guide the shark toward open water. [Yonhap]
A bull shark measuring 3 to 4 meters swims through a waterway at Bukhang Waterfront Park in Dong-gu, Busan, on Friday. Coast guard officers deployed coastal rescue boats to the scene and, working alongside fire department officials and the National Institute of Fisheries Science, attempted to guide the shark toward open water. [Yonhap]

A shark has been spotted for the second consecutive day in a waterway at Bukhang Waterfront Park in Busan, prompting authorities to urge the public to take precautions.

According to Busan city officials, a report came in at around 1:05 p.m. Saturday that a shark had appeared in the waterway inside Bukhang Waterfront Park in Dong-gu.

The city sent out a safety alert text message asking "those walking in the area and nearby residents to please exercise caution."

Earlier, a shark measuring 3 to 4 meters was first spotted in the same waterway at around 8:57 a.m. Friday. It was believed to be a bull shark, a species belonging to the family Carcharhinidae.

Bull sharks are found in subtropical waters across the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans, including along the Korean coast, and are classified as a species that poses a risk of attack.

The shark spotted Saturday is believed to be the same species as the one that appeared there Friday.

Coast guard officials are monitoring the situation and waiting for the shark to make its way back out to sea on its own.

When the first report came in Friday, authorities mobilized the Central Maritime Special Rescue Unit along with coastal rescue boats, patrol vessels and equipment to repel dangerous marine species in an effort to guide the shark toward open water. The operation was called off, however, after the National Institute of Fisheries Science advised that forcibly driving the shark out could provoke aggressive behavior.

The institute said rising water temperatures have led to a growing number of bull shark sightings along the Korean coast in recent months, and that the shark may have followed prey into the Bukhang waterway.


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