Has the People's Shark 'Bukangi' Really Left? Missing for Four Days; Monitoring Suspended

Authorities to respond to public reports instead of conducting on-site monitoring

Authorities have suspended monitoring of Bukangi, a black shark that entered the artificial waterway at Busan North Port Waterfront Park and stayed there for more than a month, after it left the waterway and continued to go unseen.

On the morning of Oct. 22, the shark “Bukangi,” which had left the artificial channel at Busan North Port Waterfront Park during the third guidance operation the previous day, re-entered and swam inside the channel, within the barrier. Bukangi is currently swimming between the first and second barriers. 2026.10.22 Yonhap News

According to relevant agencies on Oct. 30, the National Institute of Fisheries Science, which had monitored the North Port area daily to track Bukangi’s location and health, decided to change its monitoring approach starting that day. The institute will send a team to the site to monitor the shark if it receives a report from a member of the public who has seen Bukangi. It has also formed an emergency standby team.

After authorities guided Bukangi out of the waterfront park’s waterway on Oct. 21, it was spotted offshore in front of Pier 1, near the waterway. From Oct. 24, it was seen offshore in front of the International Passenger Terminal, about 2 km away. However, authorities have not detected Bukangi during monitoring since Oct. 27. They expanded the monitoring area to include Pier 5 and other locations but were still unable to find it. The last report from a member of the public also came on Oct. 27.

Experts view Bukangi’s move from the narrow, shallow waterway as a sign that it is adapting to a new environment by swimming underwater in the wide, deep sea. An official at the National Institute of Fisheries Science said, “As Bukangi’s range of activity has expanded, the likelihood of it being spotted offshore in North Port has become very low.” However, the institute’s analysis is that authorities would need to wait about a week from when the shark was last seen before concluding that it had headed offshore.

A black shark (Bukangi) is being guided offshore near North Port Waterfront Park in Dong-gu, Busan, on the 22nd. 2026.10.22 Yonhap News.

While Bukangi was being monitored, it was swimming normally and had no visible external injuries, so its health was assessed as showing no particular signs of concern.

Meanwhile, the park, which previously averaged around 2,000 visitors on weekends, has drawn more than 1.6 million visitors in total since Bukangi was first discovered. The shark was first spotted on the morning of Sept. 18 in the waterway at Busan North Port Waterfront Park in Dong-gu, Busan, and remained there until it left.

Authorities pushed Bukangi out of the waterway in the third guidance operation on Oct. 22. This time, they installed a pontoon, a floating structure used for water-based operations, to prevent Bukangi from jumping over the net and stationed personnel on it. Authorities placed a net about 60 meters from the exit to prevent the shark from re-entering the waterway.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.