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Shedd Aquarium

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41°52′03″N 87°36′51″W / 41.867611°N 87.614046°W / 41.867611; -87.614046

Zoo in Illinois, USA
Shedd Aquarium
The John G. Shedd Aquarium, Chicago
Date openedMay 30, 1930
Location1200 South Lake Shore Drive Chicago, Illinois, USA
No. of animals25,951
No. of species2,100
MembershipsAZA, Alliance of Marine Mammal Parks and Aquariums AMMPA
Websitehttp://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. Ted A. Beattie has been the president and CEO of the aquarium since 1994. 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.

Regular Hours – Labor Day to Memorial Day

  • Sept. 4, 2007 – May 26, 2008
  • Weekdays 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
  • Weekends 9 a.m. – 6 p.m.

Summer Hours – Memorial Day to Labor Day

  • May 26 – Sept. 1
  • Daily 9 a.m. – 6 p.m.

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. John G. Shedd only lived long enough to see the architect’s first drawings for the aquarium; it was his widow, Mary R. Shedd, who 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 million gallons 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 since 1967, became president of the aquarium in 1984. Reed held the position until his death in 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. 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.

The Shedd's newest permanent exhibit, Wild Reef, opened in 2003. 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

Granddad is an Australian lungfish and arrived in 1933 from Sydney during the Century of Progress world expo, and is still alive and considered the oldest fish in a public aquarium. He is at least 80 and likely much older and weighs 25 pounds and is 4 feet in length. In 1980, granddad's mate died, she was transported with granddad. Granddad's normal behavior is that he hangs out like a sunken log on the bottom of his habitat. The story of Granddad is that Walter Chute, the aquarium’s director (1928-1964), wanted rare fishes to attract the 10 million tourists expected to visit Chicago for the exposition in 1933; during the expo's run, Granddad and his mate attracted about 4.5 million visitors.


Animals at the Shedd aquarium

Exhibits

  • Amazon Rising:

-8600 square foot walkthrough flooded forest

-250 species

  • Caribbean Reef

-built in 1971

  • Waters of the World

-wetland,

-rivers,

-Great Lakes,

-ocean floor

-90 habitats

-3 million gallons of salt water

  • Wild Reef
  • Special Exhibits

-Lizards and the Komodo King (Through summer of 2008)

Architecture

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.

Shedd Aquarium is also notable for its architecture. The basic design is taken from classical Greek architecture 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 and 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 million gallon (7.5 million liter) main tank, is backed by a wall of windows that look out onto Lake Michigan.

See also

Gallery

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 2008-03-17. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. "About Shedd: History". Retrieved 2008-04-17.
  5. "Granddad: the Aquarium's Oldest Fish". Retrieved 2008-04-17.

External links

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