'Superstar' Bukang-i asks: Is our warming sea doing OK?

A 3-meter shark stirs an urban waterway

Nearly 1.5 million visitors within a month of its appearance

Endangered blacktip shark named honorary city ambassador

Nearby businesses see a surge in outside spending

November water-temperature drop raises survival concerns

Korea's warming seas sound a climate-crisis alarm

Bukang-i, a blacktip shark, swims through the artificial waterway inside Busan's Bukang Waterfront Park. [Kim Myung-sang]

"I bike here from home pretty often — it used to be a quiet spot. But ever since this Bukang-i showed up, the banks and the bridges have been packed with people. I've been coming here for years and I've never seen anything like it."

Bukang-i, the blacktip shark at Busan's Bukang Waterfront Park, glides through the artificial waterway with its dorsal fin breaking the surface. [Kim Myung-sang]

That was how a local resident described the scene Friday afternoon at the artificial waterway inside Bukang Waterfront Park in Dong-gu, Busan, as he waited for a glimpse of Bukang-i. His words rang true: the canal banks and footbridges were thick with onlookers. Every time a tail broke the surface, shouts erupted from the crowd. When a dark gray dorsal fin sliced through the water, smartphones came up and gasps followed. Visitors hurried along the walkways, tracking the movements of the roughly 3-meter shark below.

"I came from Changwon and stopped by to see Bukang-i while I was here," one visitor said. "I've only ever seen a shark on TV — seeing one in person is something else."

The arrival of a single "superstar" shark has transformed a once-quiet urban park into a national attraction. The surge in foot traffic has breathed new life into nearby businesses. But as Bukang-i's stay grows longer and water temperatures begin to fall, authorities are wrestling with deepening questions about safety, crowd management and how to guide the shark back to open water.

Nearly 1.5 million visitors in a month as crowds flock to Bukang

Visitors to Busan's Bukang Waterfront Park on Friday watch Bukang-i, the blacktip shark, swimming through the artificial waterway. [Kim Myung-sang]

Bukang-i was first spotted in the artificial waterway at Bukang Waterfront Park on Sept. 18, and Saturday marks 30 days since its appearance. Initially thought to be a bull shark, the National Institute of Fisheries Science confirmed on Oct. 6 that it is a female blacktip shark measuring about 3 meters in length. The blacktip shark is classified as "Endangered" on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List.

Within the park, which opened in November 2023, Bukang-i most often appears in the stretch between Bay Park Bridge and the fourth pedestrian bridge. The location is accessible via a raised walkway from the rear of Busan Station, drawing not only local residents but also travelers passing through the city.

The rear of Busan Station and the Sky Plaza, which connect to Bukang Waterfront Park. [Kim Myung-sang]

Since Bukang-i's appearance, cumulative visitors to Bukang Waterfront Park have approached 1.5 million. The steady stream of people — stretching from the corridor linking Busan Station to the park all the way to the canal banks — has also put a spotlight on the Bukang waterfront area, which had previously been relatively little known.

Visitors could be seen strolling through the park or exploring the broader Bukang area as they waited for the shark to surface. "Even on a weekday afternoon, I was surprised to see charter buses parked at the park entrance and so many people," one visitor said.

The certificate of appointment naming Bukang-i, the blacktip shark, as an honorary promotional ambassador for the city of Busan. [Busan Metropolitan City]

Public institutions have embraced Bukang-i's popularity. Busan officially appointed the shark as an honorary promotional ambassador on Sept. 29, recognizing its role in raising the park's profile and drawing public attention. Before the appointment, the city solicited opinions through its official Instagram account; more than 8,200 people responded, with 91 percent in favor.

Nearby businesses get a boost, but tourism promotion stays cautious

Bukang-i, the blacktip shark at Busan's Bukang Waterfront Park, swims with its dorsal fin above the surface of the artificial waterway. [Kim Myung-sang]

The influx of visitors has translated into measurable gains for nearby businesses. A city analysis comparing card spending within a 1-kilometer radius of Bukang Waterfront Park in the 10 days before and after the shark's appearance found that restaurant sales rose 29.3 percent and convenience store sales rose 35 percent. Spending and transaction counts by out-of-town visitors rose 22.4 percent and 32.5 percent, respectively.

The growing crowds have also heightened the need for crowd management and shark protection measures. After repeated incidents of visitors shining smartphone lights or lighters onto the water at night, park authorities restricted access to the walkways from 6 p.m. until the following morning.

When reporters visited the park at 2 a.m., entry was still blocked. "You can't go in right now — it's to protect the shark," a park official on duty said. "Come back at 5 a.m."

A nighttime view of Bay Park Bridge, which spans the artificial waterway inside Bukang Waterfront Park in Busan. [Kim Myung-sang]

Tourism agencies have taken note of Bukang-i's crowd-drawing power, but are treading carefully on active promotion given concerns about the wild animal's safety and its eventual return to open water.

"It became an opportunity for the park itself — which had low name recognition since it only recently opened — to become widely known," said Jo Guk-in, head of the Busan Tourism Organization's Seoul office. "However, the city is currently prioritizing plans to safely guide the shark back to open water, so for now we are limiting our response to providing information through official social media channels."

Survival alarm as water cools — how to guide shark back to sea

Visitors stand along the railing of the waterfront promenade at Bukang Waterfront Park in Busan, peering into the artificial waterway below. [Kim Myung-sang]

As Bukang-i's stay stretches on, authorities face a growing dilemma. The shark is swimming freely in the waterway for now, but deepening autumn and falling water temperatures could change the conditions for its survival.

Blacktip sharks are generally understood to prefer water temperatures between 18 and 26 degrees Celsius. Experts say that below 15 degrees, physiological functions begin to deteriorate, and around 11 degrees survival can become precarious. Busan city officials project that water temperatures will drop to around 11 degrees after mid-November — which is why they are actively exploring ways to move the shark safely to open water.

Two attempts to return Bukang-i to the sea have already been made. City and relevant authorities deployed large nets and water cannons on Sept. 29 and Oct. 2 to herd the shark toward open water, but both efforts failed. Concerns also arose that the process was causing the shark significant stress. Authorities have since suspended further physical capture attempts and shifted their approach toward managing the environment in a way that encourages the shark to find its own way out.

Bukang-i's appearance is no coincidence — it's a climate signal

Bukang-i, the blacktip shark at Busan's Bukang Waterfront Park, swims with its dorsal fin breaking the surface of the artificial waterway. [Kim Myung-sang]

Opinions differ on why the shark has not left the waterway. Some worry that artificial structures may be disorienting it, or that its repetitive circling of the same route could be a sign of stress. Others suggest that if food is plentiful and conditions inside the waterway are more stable than in the open sea, the shark may simply have little reason to leave.

Choe Jae-cheon, a distinguished professor in the Department of Eco Science at Ewha Womans University, said in a recent video on his YouTube channel "Choe Jae-cheon's Amazon" that "if the environment inside the waterway is less variable than the open sea and food is available, there may be little immediate incentive for it to leave." He added, "If we respect it as a living creature and a member of nature, I think it is better to wait and let it find its own way out."

Some voices caution against treating Bukang-i's appearance as merely an unusual spectacle. As rising water temperatures shift the distribution of marine life and the movement of prey, they argue the episode should prompt a closer look at the changes taking place in Korean waters.

The seas around the Korean Peninsula are warming faster than the global average. Data from the National Institute of Fisheries Science show that the average annual sea surface temperature in Korean waters rose about 1.60 degrees Celsius between 1968 and 2025 — roughly 2.1 times the global average increase of 0.76 degrees over the same period. As warming waters expand the range of warm-current fish species, large predators such as sharks that feed on those species could also shift their movements and approach closer to shore.

Choe Jae-cheon, distinguished professor in the Department of Eco Science at Ewha Womans University. [Screenshot from YouTube channel 'Choe Jae-cheon's Amazon']

This has led to calls for Bukang-i to be seen not merely as a curiosity, but as a turning point for examining climate change and rethinking how humans coexist with marine ecosystems.

"This incident is evidence that climate change is becoming seriously worse," Choe said. "Beyond the excitement over Bukang-i, I hope people will also reflect on what we should be doing in this era of serious climate change."

terry@heraldcorp.com