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Third try to free Busan's shark
Divers in suits are deploying harbor-wide netting on buoys and slowly pushing the shark, nicknamed Bukangi, toward the open ocean. Ten government agencies, including the fisheries authority and the city government, are coordinating the operation, and the aim is to avoid hurting the shark. Dusky sharks are an endangered species that has been overhunted for their fins.
Two earlier attempts failed because the shark swam around the netting or returned to the harbor afterward. Kim Hyung-woo of South Korea's National Institute of Fisheries Science, who is leading the rescue, said the port is full of noise, lights, and electrical signals, and the team thinks that may be making it hard for the shark to find its way out. Biologists say unusually warm waters drew the shark north, and they warn that the concrete harbor and the crowds may be stressing her.
More than 1.6 million people have visited the harbor park, which was rarely visited before. The city has named the shark its official mascot, pins, plush toys, and T-shirts are on sale, and local residents patrol at night to stop anyone from shining a torch or laser at her.
Why are dusky sharks endangered?
Dusky sharks have been heavily fished for their fins, but their biology makes recovery slow. Females mature only after roughly two decades and give birth to small litters after a long pregnancy. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature lists the species as endangered. A population that grows this slowly cannot replace the animals lost to fishing.
How can noise and light confuse a shark?
Sharks navigate with several senses at once. They hear low-frequency sound through their inner ears and a row of sensors called the lateral line, and they detect faint electric fields through pores around the snout called the ampullae of Lorenzini. Electrical noise from a busy port can overlap with the signals they rely on. Sharks also have a layer behind the retina that boosts their vision in dim light, which bright harbor lamps can disrupt.
Why would warm water draw a shark north?
Most sharks cannot regulate their body temperature, so water temperature shapes where they can live comfortably. When a current or a marine heat wave warms waters at higher latitudes, the range of a species can shift with it. Prey fish often move along the same warm corridors, which gives sharks another reason to follow. Marine biologists have documented poleward range shifts in many ocean species as sea temperatures have risen.
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