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March 26, 2010
Your small actions make a big difference! A recent National Resources Defense Council study found that if each of us made simple, inexpensive energy conservation choices, we could reduce U.S. carbon emissions by 1 billion tons. That’s a lot of emissions – and a little extra change for your pocket, too. Why not begin by joining us for Earth Hour?
March 19, 2010
In early March, my boss, Michelle Jost, arrived at work wearing a huge smile. She heard a red-winged blackbird trilling nearby; that call meant spring! But to other Shedd staffers, that call meant "duck!" The red-wings that reside in Shedd’s gardens are notoriously protective of their nests. If you’ve ever had a blackbird dive-bomb your head, you know why we keep a wary eye toward the sky at this time of year.
To birders like me, however, the blackbird call signifies an exciting time of year: The great spring bird migration has begun!
March 17, 2010
Seahorses, their relatives and their habitats face significant threats from the heavy trade in seahorse products: for traditional medicine, the home aquarium industry and the trade in souvenir curios. On the way home from the Philippines, Shedd's conservation and research teams stopped in Hong Kong. Still in the company of Project Seahorse staff members, Shedd's conservation partner, they saw some of the ways in which traded seahorses are used.
March 15, 2010
Mom Puiji and her calf can have fun with a Frisbee, but belugas are inventive when it comes to games, and anything can be a toy. Like skin. The calf, who turns 13 weeks old today, is shedding his skin in sheets as he grows. (He weighs more than 325 pounds now – double his birth weight of 162!) He’s had help sloughing the old skin from Mom and Naya, the other adult female beluga currently in Secluded Bay with him. They peel the skin off with their mouths and let it go. Then the calf plays with the fragments as they float in the water.
March 12, 2010
Check out Shedd's newest commercial featuring the beluga calf.
Posted by Joe Kantor, web editor
March 10, 2010
March 08, 2010
I’m pretty sure that no one in my family would mind if I stopped drinking coffee. It’s not the inability to function before my first sip; it’s the time I spend studying labels whenever we’re out of beans.
Fair trade, shade-grown, organic, single-origin – I’m a professional “greenie,” and I’m confused! Plus, I do actually want to enjoy what I drink, which means it has to be a dark roast that isn’t too acidic.
What’s a java junkie to do? Here’s a rundown on some common labels:
Fair trade: Coffee plantations have been compared to field-based sweatshops, where workers spend long hours collecting beans for prices that don’t even offset production costs. Fair trade-certified coffee guarantees equitable wage and economic standards. Most FT coffee comes from small growers who practice more sustainable farming techniques, and it’s often organic to boot.
Shade-grown: Conventional coffee plantations replace diverse tropical forests with monoculture production. The forest-like setting of shade grown coffee benefits tropical migratory birds, such as the ones you’d find in our Amazon Rising habitats as well as Chicago’s familiar summer residents. The Smithsonian’s Bird Friendly certification is a great way to go.
Organic: Conventional coffee is chemically intensive to grow. Who wants pesticides and fertilizers in their morning cup of joe? Yuck! Look for the USDA or OCIA organic label, but try to choose coffee that’s both fair trade and organic to support farmers and the environment.
At Shedd, we serve coffee from Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, which is committed to procuring environmentally and socially responsible products. At home, I’d recommend stopping into a local roaster or visiting your nearest Whole Foods Market, where you can label read to your heart’s content. Just leave the family at home.
Posted by Meg Matthews, conservation
March 05, 2010
Fantasea field trip sweepstakes winners visited Shedd Aquarium for a day of fun. A first-grade class from Trumbull Elementary School in Chicago and a fifth-grade class from Jerry Ross Elementary School in Crown Point, Indiana, won field trips to Shedd Aquarium with football greats James "Big Cat" Williams and Garrett Wolfe. Check out photos of their trip:
Students from Trumbull Elementary School meet James "Big Cat" Williams.
March 03, 2010
Since 1998, Shedd Aquarium has been a key partner with Project Seahorse, a marine conservation organization dedicated to studying and protecting seahorses while helping people who depend upon them for their livelihoods. While Project Seahorse has programs all over the world, it has maintained an active presence in the Philippines since its inception. Recently Shedd’s conservation and research leadership team visited the Philippines to meet with our conservation partner to see how the program has grown since our last visit many years ago. In the next few weeks we’ll share some of the trip highlights, with the first stop being an Apo Island visit.
March 01, 2010
March’s fish of the month is farmed arctic char.
Farmed arctic char brings back especially fond memories for me. It’s been a Right Bite team favorite for years, but I grew to appreciate this fish even more after I served as a judge in an arctic char recipe contest last fall. My fellow judges and I had a great afternoon restaurant-hopping and tasting all the wonderful and different ways this fish can be prepared.
