The two whale sharks at Hanwha Aqua Planet in Seongsan-eup, Seogwipo, Jeju raised doubts about whether they were a miracle. Now people are demanding the release of the one surviving whale shark.

Disputes continue as some argue that the death of a whale shark on August 18 was caused by the stress of being in an aquarium and others claim that it was due to an inherent disease.

The Hot Pink Dolphins, a group working to preserve the Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin, released a statement on August 21 demanding, "Hanwha Aqua Planet should reflect on their faults leading to the death of the whale shark and release the surviving whale shark immediately."

The Hot Pink Dolphins claimed, "What we feared has come true. The whale sharks on display at Aqua Planet's aquarium were at the center of controversy sparking speculations about smuggling and how they were caught. It was never clear how the aquarium acquired them."

As one of the two whale sharks at Hanwha Aqua Planet Jeju in Seogwipo, Jeju dies, people are demanding the return of the remaining whale shark to sea. Aqua Planet

They added, "Regardless of how they came to stay at Aqua Planet, they are an internationally protected endangered species, and we must send them back to the sea."

The Hot Pink Dolphins argued, "The innocent whale sharks were sacrificed because of greed obsessed with size advertising that the world's biggest fish live at Asia's largest aquarium. We must return the remaining whale shark back to the ocean near Aewol-eup, Jeju, where they were originally discovered."

They also stated, "We expect whale sharks to actively search for prey in Korea's waters due to climate changes and rise of water temperatures. If we can provide adequate protection to the whale sharks, which we expect to see more often in Korea's waters including Jeju's coast, our waters can be a precious habitat where we can observe the whale sharks, one of the world's endangered species, year round."

The Korean Federation for Environmental Movement (KFEM) of Jeju also announced this day, "The aquarium at Aqua Planet may be one of the world's largest, but it can't be larger than the ocean in which the whale sharks lived. We should release the surviving whale shark to its original state before it dies."

They also asked the government of Jeju to prohibit the exhibition of endangered species claiming, "Since 9.7 billion won of central government funds and 9.8 billion of local government funds were invested in Aqua Planet, the government of Jeju is also responsible."

These groups stated that the cause of the whale shark's death was stress in the process of capturing, transporting, and displaying the whales. They claim that whale sharks are not suitable to be displayed in an aquarium.

Lee Young-wung, director of KFEM Jeju spoke, "Another whale shark died while being transported to the Aqua Planet at the Yeosu Expo a few months ago. Whale sharks are too sensitive to be managed by human hands. It is an animal of nature that we should not treat in this way."

The Hot Pink Dolphins insisted, "Whale sharks can't tolerate being locked up, so an aquarium is nothing but a cramped prison cell. It is obvious that the extreme stress the whale sharks experienced after being enclosed in the aquarium caused the death."

However Hanwha Aqua Planet announced, "We have asked Jeju National University to perform a rigorous autopsy of the dead whale shark and are waiting for the results. Due to the lack of research on whale sharks in Korea, it is difficult to determine the exact cause of death."

They added, "We are reviewing various causes of death including the possibility of an internal injury when it was caught in a fixed shore net, an inherent illness, and problems with the water tank system."