Cafe Owner Donates $700 After Shark Draws Crowds to Busan Park

A cafe owner who saw an unexpected windfall from "Bukangi," a shark that appeared in an artificial waterway at Busan's North Port waterfront park, has donated part of the proceeds to the local community.

Kang Ki-sung, who runs the Ediya Coffee outlet at North Port Waterfront Park, visited the Dong-gu district office on the 1st and handed over 1 million won ($700) as a hometown love donation, the district said.

"I decided to donate part of the proceeds back to the community out of gratitude to visitors who sent warm encouragement despite our inadequate service amid the sudden crowds," Kang said.

"I am glad that North Port Waterfront Park has become known across the country thanks to Bukangi," Kang added. "I also thank the agencies that worked hard on the scene."

Bukangi was first spotted in the artificial waterway at the park on Sept. 18. The 3.5-meter-long nurse shark is believed to have entered the waterway chasing prey and been unable to find its way out.

Once the shark surfaced, crowds flocked to the park hoping to see it in person. A cumulative 616,800 people visited the waterfront park between Sept. 19 and 28 to see Bukangi, according to the Busan Facilities Corporation. That is an extraordinary figure compared with the roughly 2,000 visitors the park typically draws on an average holiday.

Efforts to return Bukangi to the sea are also under way. Busan city and other agencies made a first rescue attempt on Sept. 29. They used water pumps mounted on a boat to spray jets of water and guide the shark out of the waterway, but called off the operation after about five hours when it would not move.

A second rescue operation for Bukangi, which has now spent 15 days in the waterway, began at 3:30 p.m. on the 2nd. The joint rescue team plans to install a large net in front of the footbridge that crosses the waterway to block the shark's movement, then gradually move the net toward the outer end of the waterway to guide it into open sea.