"High probability it has moved to outer waters"

Bukang-i swimming in the waterway. [Yonhap]
Bukang-i swimming in the waterway. [Yonhap]

Bukang-i, a blacktip shark that spent more than a month in the artificial waterway of Busan North Port's waterfront park, has not been spotted for six days, fueling speculation that it has moved to the open sea.

According to Yonhap, Bukang-i has not been observed since Tuesday. The National Institute of Fisheries Science suspended regular on-site checks Monday and shifted to a tip-based monitoring system, dispatching staff to the scene only when residents report a sighting. No tips have come in.

The shark was first spotted in the waterfront park waterway on Oct. 19. It later appeared in waters off the International Ferry Terminal, about 2 kilometers away, starting Saturday — then vanished the following Tuesday.

"We believe there is a high probability that Bukang-i, after moving into the waters off North Port, has since headed toward the outer sea," said Kim Hyun-woo, a researcher at the National Institute of Fisheries Science. "We expect to make a final determination around Tuesday, about a week after Bukang-i disappeared."

A drop in water temperature since the shark was first found lends further weight to that assessment. Surface water temperature off North Port stood at around 25 degrees Celsius on Oct. 19, but fell below 20 degrees for the first time on Wednesday. The optimal temperature range for blacktip sharks is 18 to 26 degrees Celsius, putting the waters off North Port near the lower end of that range.

When Bukang-i was still being spotted in the artificial waterway, the waterfront park drew as many as 100,000 visitors on peak weekend days.


park.jiyeong@heraldcorp.com