Shark 'Bukan' Missing for Three Days in Busan's North Port

Busan's North Port has not seen the shark known as 'Bukan' for three consecutive days, raising concerns that it may have left the area. Despite expanding the search area, reports of sightings from citizens have also dwindled.

According to the National Fisheries Research Institute and other relevant agencies, no traces of Bukan were found during monitoring conducted in the North Port area on the 29th.

Bukan, which had been spotted near the International Passenger Terminal since the 24th, has not been seen since the 27th. Authorities have significantly widened the monitoring area from the North Port Marina to the waters off Pier 5, but have not achieved any notable results. Additionally, there have been no citizen reports of sightings, which had previously played a crucial role in tracking the shark's movements.

However, officials remain cautious about concluding that Bukan has completely left the North Port. They acknowledge the possibility that the shark may be staying submerged in the deeper waters of the port without surfacing.

An official stated that it would take about a week of uninterrupted monitoring and lack of citizen reports to increase the likelihood that Bukan has ventured into the open sea, and they plan to continue search efforts for the time being.

Bukan was first discovered in the artificial waterway of the North Port's waterfront park on September 18 and has since become a local attraction, remaining in the area for over a month. After successfully navigating out of a narrow waterway during a third attempt to guide it to the open sea on the 21st, Bukan expanded its range to the waters off the International Passenger Terminal, approximately 2 kilometers from Pier 1.