Bukang-i, a shark that captured the attention of citizens by staying in Busan North Port for over a month, has not been spotted by authorities for three consecutive days.

According to related organizations including the National Institute of Fisheries Science, Bukang-i was not found during the monitoring conducted around Busan North Port today (October 29).

Bukang-i, which had been spotted in the waters off the International Passenger Terminal pier for three straight days starting on October 24, has not been captured on the authorities' surveillance radar for three days from October 27 until today.

Authorities expanded the monitoring range from the North Port Marina to the waters in front of Pier 5 to check on Bukang-i's whereabouts, but found no particular traces.

Citizen sightings, which have played a crucial role in tracking Bukang-i's movements, have also not been reported so far.

However, it is still too early to conclude that Bukang-i has completely left North Port.

This is because there is a possibility that it is staying in the deep waters of North Port without revealing itself to the surface.

Authorities believe that only if the lack of monitoring and citizen sightings continues for about a week can they consider the possibility that Bukang-i has left North Port to be higher.

Bukang-i emerged as a local attraction in Busan after staying for over a month since it was first discovered in the artificial waterway of the North Port Waterfront Park on September 18.

After exiting the narrow waterway through the authorities' third open-sea guidance operation on October 21, it expanded its activity radius, moving to the waters off the International Passenger Terminal, about 2 kilometers away from Pier 1 of North Port.