How a shark took over a city.
Everything below really happened, in front of more than a million people and news cameras from across Korea. The scenes are illustrated; the facts come from the news reports linked further down.
“I’m here!”
Sep 18. A shark about 3.5 meters long, believed to be a copper shark, turns up in the canal of Busan’s North Port Waterfront Park. Locals name him Bukangi, after Bukhang, the North Port.
Illustration “This is my canal now.”
Sep 24–27. Over the Chuseok holiday 483,000 people line the canal to see him, with 140,000 on Sep 26 alone. Before he arrived, the park saw about 2,000 visitors a day.
Illustration “Call me Ambassador.”
Sep 29. Busan names him an honorary PR ambassador after 91% of some 8,000 voters back the idea in a poll on the city’s Instagram.
Illustration Rescue attempt #1
Sep 29. Boats and water pumps try to herd him out to sea. He hugs the wall, dives deep, and swims back in.
Called off. Shark stays.
Illustration Rescue attempt #2
Oct 2. A custom 50-meter net pushes him to within about 100 meters of the sea. Then the tide rises and the net snags on the bottom.
Suspended. Shark stays.
“I WON!”
Oct 3. At high tide the next day, the water rises above the secured net. Bukangi swims over the submerged barrier and back into the inner waterway.
Illustration 1,015,800
Oct 5. people have now come to see him, counted since Sep 19. Busan’s quietest waterfront became the busiest spot in the city.
Illustration “I’ll leave when I leave.”
Today. Authorities have paused rescue work and are waiting for him to swim out on his own before the water cools in November. If you visit, please keep your flash off at night. We hope he finds his way home.
