By Kim Bo-eun
Aqua Planet Jeju, a large-scale aquarium on Jeju Island, said Wednesday that it will release its one remaining whale shark into the wild by the end of this month.
The move came after environmental organizations called on Hanwha Group, which owns the aquarium, to set the endangered shark free after the other one of the two recently died in the aquarium.
The organizations demanded the shark be released, claiming that the other specimen died because it was trapped inside a tank instead of being able to swim freely in the ocean.
Hanwha Group initially refused, claiming that the cause of the shark’s death was uncertain.
The two whale sharks were given to the aquarium last month by a fisherman in Jeju who caught them in his net.
“We apologize for the death of the whale shark and we acknowledge that we are responsible,” said an employee at Aqua Planet. “We decided to release the other whale shark, after taking public opinion into consideration.”
“We will make this an opportunity to make greater efforts to protect not only endangered species but also all marine life in the seas surrounding the peninsula,” he said.