About

Why a shark-herding game?

On 18 September 2026 a shark about 3.5 metres long, believed to be a bronze whaler, swam into the artificial waterway at Busan's North Port Waterfront Park and couldn't find its way out. In under two weeks more than 600,000 people came to see it. The city made it an honorary ambassador. A rescue with boats and water cannons on 29 September failed because the shark kept slipping past the boats, and a net operation is planned for 2 October.

People everywhere are rooting for Bukang-i to get home. We wanted to let you try the job yourself: guide a nervous animal where it needs to go without scaring it half to death. It's much harder than it looks, and that's the point.

This site was made for 30 September 2026. The story was still unfolding, so everything here describes events up to that date.

How the game works

• The shark wanders, swims away from boats, flinches from water jets, heads for anchovies and feels the pull of the open sea when it gets close. When it's cornered it darts past your boat's stern, just as the real one did.
• Stress builds when boats crowd it or jets hit it, and eases when you back off. Fill the meter and it panics. A gentle rescue earns the third star.
• Boats steer by tap, drag or keyboard. Parked boats hold position and aim at the shark, like the real three-boat plan: one pushes, one steers, one blocks.
• Nets close a gap for the shark only. Tides open and close sandy shallows. Ferries cross on fixed routes and scare the shark too.
• Three modes: 15 story canals, endless seeded Random canals (share the seed), and Custom canals from the builder. Custom levels are stored entirely in the link.
• Progress, best times, settings and your builder draft are saved in your browser's localStorage. Nothing is sent anywhere.

A note on the real animal

This is a light-hearted fan game about a real animal in a tricky spot. Game Bukang-i follows simple rules; real sharks don't. Some of the other wayward animals on this site didn't survive, and we say so plainly. If you're ever near a stranded or trapped animal, keep your distance and follow the local authorities.

Sources

• Korea JoongAng Daily: three-boat rescue attempt, drones, waterway depth; ambassador appointment and trademark application
• The Korea Times: rescue operation and name origin
• Yahoo News / the Guardian: large shark trapped in city canal draws 600,000 visitors
• Gulf News: first weekend crowds and expert advice
• Star News Korea: “Shafluencer” and 607,000 visits
• Wonder Korea: Chuseok visitor numbers
• Seoul Economic Daily: rescue halted, net plan for 2 October
• Wikipedia: Copper shark (biology, diet, reproduction, conservation, captivity)
• Wayward animals: Humphrey, Delta and Dawn, River Thames whale, Benny, Freya, Wally, Thor, Hvaldimir, Timmy, P-22, Fungie, NPR on Timmy, phys.org on the Seine beluga, France 24 on the Seine orca, Patch on Rio, DNAinfo on Sludgie, Brooklyn Paper on the Gowanus dolphin, NBC on Hal, Save the Manatee Club on Chessie

Credits

Game, art, code and words are original, made for this site. All graphics are drawn in code. The fonts are Fredoka and Nunito from Google Fonts. There are no trackers, ads or accounts.

This is an unofficial fan project, not affiliated with Busan Metropolitan City, the Korea Coast Guard or the National Institute of Fisheries Science.