North Port Busan shark trapped became Busan’s oddest draw on Tuesday, when a 3.5-metre shark remained in North Port after another attempt to move it out failed. The canal had held the animal for more than a week, and the waterfront park beside it kept filling with visitors.
The scale was striking: North Port Waterfront Park recorded 607,000 visits between 19 and 28 September, far above its usual holiday traffic of about 2,000 people a day. The shark was believed to be a bronze whaler, a species that experts said likely followed prey into the narrow waterway and could not get back out.
Busan Visitors Gather at North Port
Kim Jung-sook, a Busan visitor, said on Tuesday: “I’ve grown attached to it after seeing it here for a few days … I feel a bit sad.” Her reaction fit the scene at North Port Waterfront Park, where the trapped shark drew more than 600,000 people in less than two weeks.
Chun Jae-soo, the Busan mayor, praised the shark’s pull on the public. “It really has star quality. It comes up every five to 10 minutes,” he said to CBS radio. He also said, “It’s just so pretty.”
Coastguard Pushes, Then Stops
The coastguard in Busan first tried to drive the shark out on 18 September, the day it was first spotted in the waterway. Scientists advised stopping that first operation after six hours because forcing the animal could harm it or make it aggressive. On Tuesday morning, coastguard boats sprayed jets of water behind the shark to push it toward the canal’s mouth.
The shark slipped past the boats and swam back into the canal. Officials said its ability to feed and move was restricted, but the national institute of fisheries science said the shark was stable. The operation was suspended again on Tuesday afternoon because the shark would not leave the waterway.
Bukang-i and the Publicity Title
The shark had already taken on a local identity: it was nicknamed Bukang-i after Busan’s North Port. The city also named it an honorary publicity ambassador with the title Shafluencer after 91% of respondents to a city Instagram poll backed the idea. Boogi is to accept the certificate on the shark’s behalf.
For visitors, that leaves a simple choice: keep coming to North Port Waterfront Park while the shark stays put, or wait for another push from the coastguard. Lee Do-yoon, an eight-year-old child visitor, said as he came with his father to see the shark off: “It’s OK,” and, “Bukang-i is going to meet its friends.”
