A large shark nicknamed "Bukangi," which has been lingering in the waterway at Busan's North Port waterfront park, cleared a net installed by rescue authorities and returned to the inner part of the channel within a day. With the operation to guide the shark out to sea effectively back at square one, authorities are weighing what to do next.
According to authorities on the 3rd, Bukangi cleared the large net installed during the previous day's rescue operation at around noon and moved back into the inner channel. It is currently being observed between the 4th and 5th footbridges, where it has frequently surfaced.
The Busan Coast Guard and other agencies installed a net 50 meters long and 6.8 meters high in the waterway near the 4th footbridge the previous day in an effort to send Bukangi back to the open sea. They then moved the net toward the 6th footbridge, closer to the sea, to steer the shark out of the channel.
But the net became snagged on the channel floor during the operation, and the shark showed no sign of moving farther outward. Authorities ultimately ended the operation with the net anchored at a point about 100 meters inside the channel exit. The net was meant to keep Bukangi from swimming back into the inner waterway.
The shark then circled the net looking for a gap before clearing it around midday. With Bukangi still not leaving the channel after two rescue attempts, crowds again streamed into the North Port waterfront park to catch a glimpse of it. Busan and the agencies involved had originally planned to wait and see whether the shark would head out to sea on its own during the National Foundation Day holiday from the 3rd to the 5th.
Since the roughly 3.5-meter shark first appeared, cumulative visitors to the North Port waterfront park have topped 700,000, drawing attention to the site as a new tourist destination.
