A shark stuck in Busan canal drew crowds to North Port Waterfront Park after it was first spotted on 18 September. The waterway held the animal for more than a week, while visitors kept coming to watch what happened next.
The park recorded 607,000 visits between 19 and 28 September. That was far above its usual holiday traffic of about 2,000 people a day, and it turned the waterfront into the city’s most watched public space.
North Port Waterfront Park
The shark was nicknamed Bukang-i after the name of Busan’s North Port. Experts believed it was a bronze whaler shark, and city officials later gave it the title Shafluencer after an Instagram poll drew 91% support. Boogi was to accept the certificate on the shark’s behalf.
Chun Jae-soo said on CBS radio: "It really has star quality. It comes up every five to 10 minutes." He also said: "It’s just so pretty."
Kim Jung-sook came to say goodbye to the shark on Tuesday and told Maeil Shinmun: "I’ve grown attached to it after seeing it here for a few days … I feel a bit sad." Lee Do-yoon came with his father and said: "It’s OK," and, "Bukang-i is going to meet its friends."
coastguard on Tuesday
The coastguard tried to drive the shark out on 18 September, then suspended the operation six hours later on the advice of scientists. On Tuesday morning, coastguard boats sprayed jets of water behind the shark to push it toward the canal’s mouth, using a method modeled on the rescue of a great white shark that became trapped in shallow water off Massachusetts in 2004.
Officials said the first attempt failed after the shark slipped past the boats and swam back into the canal. The National Institute of Fisheries Science said the shark was stable, but officials also said its ability to feed and move was restricted. Scientists warned that forcing the animal could harm it or make it aggressive.
The operation was suspended again on Tuesday afternoon because the shark would not leave the waterway. What became of the shark after that suspension was the question left hanging over North Port Waterfront Park, where the crowd had already made the animal a city attraction in plain sight.
