As soon as a large shark was spotted in a canal in Busan – a bustling shipping hub and beach city on South Korea’s south-eastern tip – marine biologist Kim Hyun-woo was drafted in to rescue it.
He got the call in mid-September, on his way home from a business trip tracking shoals of mackerel to aid fishing vessels. Despite being one of the country’s leading shark experts, he never thought he’d be asked by the coastguard to actually save one.
South Korea is no stranger to sharks but one this size, in a shallow, concrete canal right by the world’s seventh busiest port, was unheard of – until now.
With an excited crowd already gathering at the waterfront, his team from the National Institute of Fisheries Science had to move fast.
The first task was to determine the species.
Some sharks are more dangerous than others. The star of the 1975 blockbuster Jaws, the great white shark, is known to attack and kill humans.
The specimen in Busan was found to be a female dusky shark, a species linked only to two deadly attacks. Still, Kim feared someone in the crowd might jump or fall into the canal.
The shark had to return to sea.
