A so-called Bukang the shark vigilante group has emerged to protect a shark named ‘Bukang’ that has been staying for a long time in the water channel of Busan Bukang Waterfront Park, patrolling the site every night.
Youtubers such as ‘Busan Jam’ and ‘Heung-gugi’ have recently been broadcasting live views of Bukang around the Bukang Waterfront Park area at night. These individuals are known to go beyond just filming Bukang by stopping some spectators who provoke the shark, such as shining strong lights at night.
On the 7th, YouTuber ‘Busan Jam’ uploaded a video showing them shouting “Turn off the lanterns” toward a group of tourists who were shining lanterns at Bukang. The group replied “Understood” and left the scene.
In addition, they successively uploaded shorts videos showing the behavior of some nuisance spectators under titles such as ‘A couple shining lantern-sized lights on Bukang’ and ‘Night flash villains.’
Netizens also shared witness accounts one after another through social media (SNS). One netizen claimed, “Around 8:30 PM, a person shining a large lantern at Bukang was caught, and they continuously shined the light following Bukang’s moving direction.”>
They stated, “A YouTuber stopped this, and as a result, about 15 people around who were enjoying the behavior together also left their seats.”>
Earlier that day, an abrasions on Bukang’s snout were discovered during National Institute of Fisheries Science (NIFS) field monitoring. As spectators recently shined strong lanterns at night and Bukang was observed suddenly changing direction, the possibility that abrasions occurred during this process was raised.
The NIFS side stated, “Currently, the wounds are not at a level that greatly affects health, but if wounds accumulate, they can become vulnerable to external infection.”>
Bukang was first discovered in the waterfront park artificial waterway on the 18th of last month and has stayed in the same place for more than two weeks. Busan City and other related organizations conducted two rescue operations but failed to send it out to the sea. Currently, artificial rescue operations have been suspended, and they are watching whether Bukang moves to the outer sea on its own.
The cumulative number of visitors who visited Bukang to see it reached 1,015,800 as of 6 PM on the 5th. As interest surrounding Bukang grows, basic caution in treating ecosystems and wild animals is being demanded of visitors as well.
The Busan Facilities Corporation is broadcasting guidance to manage or ask for restraint at the scene to block spectators from provoking Bukang with late-night lights and other means.
