BUSAN — A black shark nicknamed "Bukangi," which has drawn crowds after lingering for more than a month in a waterway at Busan's North Port waterfront park, returned within hours of being guided out to the open sea by authorities. Officials have since reinforced the inner barrier into a double layer to block the shark from swimming farther in, while reopening the route toward the open sea and waiting for it to leave on its own.
According to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries and the city of Busan on the 22nd, authorities mounted a third guidance operation at around 6 p.m. the previous day using pontoons, barrier nets and professional divers, successfully moving the 3-meter-long shark out of the waterway. But Bukangi, which officials had expected to head for open water, circled near the waterway exit and slipped back in at around 11 p.m. the same day through a gap beneath the primary barrier structure, a pontoon installed to prevent its return.
The shark then continued swimming in a narrow stretch between the primary barrier and a secondary net set 30 to 40 meters farther inside. It did not reach the fourth and fifth footbridges, where it had previously stayed, but remaining in a confined passage with its path to the open sea blocked heightened both safety risks and ecological stress.
In response, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, the city of Busan, the National Marine Biodiversity Institute of Korea, the National Institute of Fisheries Science, the Busan Infrastructure Corporation, the Busan Port Authority and police launched an emergency joint operation at 9 a.m. on the 22nd. Authorities repositioned the pontoons at around noon and pushed the shark back outside the waterway, but Bukangi then began swimming at depth and could no longer be tracked by sight. It surfaced briefly near Pier 1 at around 2 p.m. before disappearing underwater again.
To prevent the shark from entering the waterway again, authorities added a pontoon and netting to the secondary barrier at around 3:36 p.m., creating a double barrier. The shark can still move about 30 meters farther inside than before, but any approach beyond that point is now fully blocked. The original primary barrier, through which Bukangi had squeezed back in, was removed to leave a clear path to the open sea.
"The last confirmed position was in waters outside the waterway, and we will continue monitoring whether it stays in the open sea and how it moves," a Busan city official said. "If Bukangi remains in open water, we believe no further work to block entry into the waterway will be necessary."
Bukangi was first spotted in the North Port waterfront park waterway on Sept. 18. Visitors flocked to see the large black shark in person, helping push cumulative visits to the park past 1.6 million.