A roughly 3.5-meter shark nicknamed "Bukangi" has spent more than a month circling a canal in Busan's North Port Waterfront Park, drawing an estimated 600,000 visitors since late September even as officials and marine biologists remain unable to explain why the animal, believed to be a bronze whaler, refuses to leave.
The shark was first spotted on September 18, and its nickname derives from "Buk Hang," the Korean name for North Port, combined with a common Korean name suffix. Authorities have tried twice to encourage the shark back out to open water: a first attempt using water jets from vessels simply pushed the animal deeper into the canal, while a second attempt using a large net saw the shark circle the barrier repeatedly, at times appearing to search for a gap, without finding its way out. Officials ultimately left the net in place and decided to let the shark find its own way out rather than risk further, more invasive intervention.
Experts say the canal's curved structure may be disorienting the animal, though no one has offered a definitive explanation. As of early October, Busan city officials said they had detected no signs that the shark's health had deteriorated during its extended stay, and the city has shifted to simply monitoring the situation rather than mounting further rescue attempts. The sustained public fascination has turned an unusual wildlife event into something of a local tourist attraction, with visitors lining the canal's edge for a glimpse of the animal that has, for the moment, made North Port its unlikely home.