Visitors to North Port Waterfront Park topped 1.2 million as of Friday. On an ordinary day the park drew about 2,000 people.
The shark, first spotted on Sept. 18, is a female dusky shark about 3 meters long. The National Institute of Fisheries Science confirmed the species on Oct. 6 after studying close-up footage. The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists dusky sharks as endangered.
Authorities failed twice to steer the shark back to open sea, first with water pumps on Sept. 29 and then with a custom-made net on Oct. 2. The institute has since called off the effort and left the passage open so the shark can swim out on its own.
Scrapes have since appeared on the shark’s snout. The institute said they may have come from sudden turns in reaction to outside stimuli, and it urged visitors to “stay away from the waterway and refrain from shining lanterns or mobile phone lights directly” at the animal.
Part of the park now closes at 6 p.m., and some YouTubers have started night patrols to shield the shark from glare. Dusky sharks generally favor waters between 18 C and 26 C.
Busan’s harbor was at about 23 C in early October.
AJP Takeaways
- Bukang-i, a female dusky shark about 3 meters long, has stayed in a canal at North Port Waterfront Park in Busan, South Korea, since Sept. 18, 2026.- The park had drawn more than 1.2 million visitors as of Oct. 9, 2026, according to Busan Infrastructure Corp., against a usual daily average of about 2,000.
- The National Institute of Fisheries Science stopped trying to guide the shark out after attempts on Sept. 29 and Oct. 2 failed, and it has asked visitors not to shine lights at the shark after scrapes appeared on its snout.
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