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Shedd Aquarium
The John G. Shedd Aquarium, Chicago
Date opened	May 30, 1930
Location	1200 South Lake Shore Drive Chicago, Illinois, USA
No. of animals	25,951
No. of species	2,100
Memberships	AZA, Alliance of Marine Mammal Parks and Aquariums AMMPA
Website	http://www.sheddaquarium.org

John G. Shedd Aquarium is an indoor aquarium in Chicago, Illinois in the United States. The aquarium opened on May 30,1930, and was for some time the largest indoor aquarium in the world with 5,000,000 US gallons (19,000,000 L) of water and over 25,000 fish. The Shedd Aquarium was the first inland aquarium with a permanent saltwater fish collection. The aquarium is surrounded by Museum Campus Chicago, which it shares with the Adler Planetarium and the Field Museum of Natural History. The aquarium has 2 million annual visitors; it was the most visited aquarium in the U.S. in 2005. It is the second most popular cultural attraction in Chicago, and it contains 2100 species including fish, marine mammals, birds, snakes, amphibians, and insects.

History

Shedd Aquarium was the gift of retail leader John G. Shedd, a protégé of Marshall Field (benefactor of the adjacent Field Museum), to the city of Chicago. Although Shedd only lived long enough to see the architect’s first drawings for the aquarium, his widow, Mary R. Shedd, cut the ribbon at the official opening ceremony.

Groundbreaking took place on November 2, 1927 and construction was completed on 19 December 1929; the first exhibits were opened on May 30, 1930. As one of the first inland aquariums in the world, Shedd had to rely on a custom-made railroad car, the Nautilus, for the transport of fish and seawater. The Nautilus lasted until 1959.

In 1930, 20 railroad tank cars made eight round trips between Key West and Chicago to transport 1,000,000 US gallons (3,800,000 L) of seawater for Shedd’s saltwater exhibits.

In 1933, Chicago hosted its second world's fair, the Century of Progress. The Aquarium was located immediately north of the fairgrounds, and the museum gained exposure to a large international crowd.

In 1971, Shedd Aquarium added one of its most popular exhibits, a 90,000-US-gallon (340,000 L) exhibit reproducing a Caribbean coral reef. That same year, the aquarium acquired its first research vessel, a 75-foot (23 meter) boat for exploring the Caribbean, manned by a crew to conduct field research and collect specimens. In 1985, this boat was replaced with the aquarium's current vessel, the Coral Reef II.

John Shedd's grandson, John Shedd Reed, who had served as president of Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad from 1967 to 1986, was president of aquarium's board from 1984 until 1994, and was a life trustee until his death in 2008. Ted A. Beattie has been the president and CEO of the aquarium since 1994.

In 1991, Shedd opened its Oceanarium, a large addition to the aquarium that features many marine mammals, including Pacific white-sided dolphins and belugas. The main three million gallon tank made it the largest indoor marine mammal facility in the world. In 2006, the Beluga whale Puiji gave birth to a female calf, later named Bella. On August 16, 2007 Mauyak, another beluga, gave birth to a male calf named Miki, the Inuit word for small, bringing the total number of successful beluga calf births at Shedd to three since 1999. The aquarium also boasts a number of sea otters; the core of this collection was a group rescued from the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989. In the Fall of 2008 the Shedd's Ocenarium will be closed for preventative sealing as well as administrative upgrades. The animals in the exhibit area will be put on loan to other facilities nationwide until the exhibit reopens in May or June 2009.

The Shedd's newest permanent exhibit, Wild Reef, opened in 2003. Located two levels below the main building, the 750,000-US-gallon (2,800,000 L) Wild Reef exhibit recreates a Philippine coral reef and is based on the Apo Island Marine reserve, complete with living coral, multiple species of fish and rays, and a collection of sharks. The main draw of this attraction is a 400,000-US-gallon (1,500,000 L) shark exhibit with 12-foot (3.7 m) high curved windows, allowing visitors a diver's-eye view.

Granddad

Walter Chute, the aquarium’s director from 1928 to 1964, wanted rare fishes to attract the 10 million tourists expected to visit Chicago for the exposition in 1933. Granddad, an Australian lungfish, arrived at Shedd in 1933, along with his mate, from Sydney during the Century of Progress world expo. During the expo's run, they attracted about 4.5 million visitors.

Although Granddad's mate died in 1980, he is still alive and is claimed by the aquarium to be the oldest fish in any aquarium in the world. He is at least 80 and likely much older; he weighs 25 pounds (11 kg) and is 4 feet (1.2 m) in length. His normal behavior is to hang out like a sunken log on the bottom of his habitat.

Exhibits

There are 5 permanent exhibits at the Shedd: Amazon Rising, Caribbean Reef, Waters of the World, the Oceanarium, and Wild Reef. The temporary exhibits include the Lizards and the Komodo King, which features a Komodo dragon named Faust, through the summer of 2008. The Amazon Rising exhibit is a 8600 square foot walkthrough flooded forest recreation of the Amazon river and the surrounding jungle. This exhibit contains 250 different species, and its highest water level is 6 feet. The Caribbean Reef exhibit was built in 1971, on the site of the aquarium's very first exhibit, the Tropical Pool. A feature of this exhibit is a diver that interacts with the animals while talking with the people. A part of the exhibit is a 90,000-US-gallon (340,000 L) circular tank that allows for maximum walk-around viewing.

Recognition

The aquarium received awards for best exhibit from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) for Seahorse Symphony in 1999, Amazon Rising in 2001, and Wild Reef in 2004.

Architecture

Shedd Aquarium is also notable for its architecture.The basic design, by architectural firm Graham, Anderson, Probst & White, is taken from classical Greek architecture, more exactly Beaux arts, to match the other structures of the Museum Campus. The central aquarium building is octagonal, fronted by Doric columns and a formal staircase and topped by a dome. Aquatic motifs are worked in at every opportunity; tortoise shells, dolphins, octopuses, waves, and even the Trident of Poseidon can be found all over the aquarium's exterior and interior. Improving upon its predecessor inland aquarium, the Belle Isle Aquarium in Detroit, extensive use was made of designs by Mary Chase Perry Stratton, incorporating her custom-made Pewabic Pottery tile. The Oceanarium is done in a more modern style representing the Pacific Northwest, but one that blends with the older part of the building. "Whale Harbor", the Oceanarium's 2,000,000-US-gallon (7,600,000 L) main tank, is backed by a wall of windows that look out onto Lake Michigan.

See also

• Chicago architecture

Gallery

• Cleaning the Fish Tank in the Oceanarium Cleaning the Fish Tank in the Oceanarium
• Nickel, a Green Sea Turtle at the aquarium Nickel, a Green Sea Turtle at the aquarium
• A Pacific white-sided dolphin leaping from the oceanarium during the main dolphin demonstration
• Rockhoppers and Gentoos at the penguin habitat.
• Two Belugas swimming in the oceanarium
• Shedd Aquarium from the east
• A Pacific white-sided dolphin performing a stunt A Pacific white-sided dolphin performing a stunt
• Sea Turtle named Nickel
• A species of Garden Eel from the Wild Reef exhibit

References

1. "Chicago's Largest Cultural Attractions". ChicagoBusiness. Crain Communications, Inc. 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-08.
2. "Sheed Aquarium Overview" (pdf). 2006-01. Retrieved 2008-04-17. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
3. Associated Press (2008-03-17). "John Shedd Reed, rail executive". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved 2008-04-23.
4. "John G. Shedd Aquarium 2006 Annual Report" (PDF). 2007-03-01. Retrieved 2008-04-23.
5. "Shedd Oceanarium to close for upkeep". Retrieved 2008-06-29.
6. "About Shedd: History". Retrieved 2008-04-17.
7. ^ "Granddad: the Aquarium's Oldest Fish". Retrieved 2008-04-17.
8. "About Shedd: Architecture Styles". Retrieved 2008-04-17.
9. "Mary Chase Perry Stratton". Craft In America, Inc. Retrieved 2007-04-17.

External links

• Shedd Aquarium

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