South Korean rescue teams failed to herd a popular stranded shark out of the Busan North Port waterway despite deploying water cannons on Tuesday.
Officials have scheduled a custom net capture operation for October 2.
Coast Guard and fire rescue vessels fired water jets inside the canal to drive the shark, named Bukang-i, toward open waters.
The animal repeatedly submerged to evade the current and swam beside the rescue vessels, venturing past the nearby pedestrian bridge only twice during dozens of attempt rounds.
Maritime authorities modeled the failed technique on a 2004 operation that successfully guided a stranded great white shark out of a salt marsh in the United States.
Following the attempt, local visitors expressed contentment over the animal's continued presence in the port.
"If it failed, it means the shark likes it here in the North Port waterway, so leaving it as it is even if the operation fails might be fine," said Kang Geon-woo, a resident from Buk-gu, Busan.
Marine experts suggested specific environmental conditions inside the sheltered canal are encouraging the shark to remain rather than return to open waters.
"I suspect it might keep entering the waterway to give birth.
Also, because this is a waterway, it is safe, and the water temperature is higher here than elsewhere.
This fellow prefers warm waters," said Kim Jin-gu, a professor in the Department of Marine Bio-Resource and Environment at Pukyong National University.
The attraction has drawn a cumulative crowd of 607,000 visitors, leading the Busan Metropolitan Government to appoint the animal as an honorary goodwill ambassador.
The National Institute of Fisheries Science is currently fabricating a 50-meter-wide and 4-meter-high net specifically designed for the waterway to carry out the second removal attempt on October 2.
