'Bukang-i' completes a month in Busan as visitors to waterfront park near 1.5 million

Bukang-i, the blacktip shark that appeared in the artificial waterway of Busan's Bukhang Waterfront Park, marked one month in residence on Saturday. With nearly 1.5 million visitors flocking to see it, the site has emerged as a nationally recognized attraction — but concerns are mounting over the shark's health from its prolonged stay, and calls are growing for safety measures to address shark sightings.

According to the Busan city government, cumulative visitors to Bukhang Waterfront Park stood at about 1.48 million as of 6 p.m. Friday, with 20,000 people visiting that day alone. The total is expected to surpass 1.5 million this weekend.

Bukang-i was first spotted in the park's artificial waterway on Sept. 18. Authorities conducted two rescue operations but were unable to return the shark to the sea, and are now pursuing measures to guide it out of the waterway on its own.

Experts warn that Bukang-i's health could deteriorate if it remains in the waterway much longer. Choi Yoon, an emeritus professor of marine biology at Gunsan University, said the shallow waterway causes water temperatures to drop quickly. "Bukang-i's movements could slow and it may lose the ability to feed," he said. Late last month, he put the odds of the shark escaping on its own against dying in the waterway at fifty-fifty.

Bukang-i's appearance has also prompted calls in the National Assembly for research into changes in shark habitats and the establishment of safety protocols. People Power Party lawmaker Jo Seung-hwan, speaking at a Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries national audit on Monday, said authorities need to expand research into why the shark entered the waterway and into shark ecology more broadly, and to develop management plans for warm-water predatory species along with measures to protect residents. "A rescue manual needs to be drawn up, even now," he said.