At Home on the Great Lakes

If you filled your coffee pot or tea kettle with tap water from Lake Michigan this morning, you’re among the 36 million people in the United States and Canada who depend on the Great Lakes for this most basic resource.

You are at home on the Great Lakes. And Shedd’s lighter, brighter revamped gallery of the same name wants to help you explore, learn more about and get downright excited about this ecosystem that you are a part of.

World Turtle Day

World Turtle Day, May 23, is an annual celebration of turtles and tortoises, but it's also an occasion to raise awareness about their disappearing habitats around the world. Having thrived for more than 200 million years, these endearing creatures are certainly worthy of celebration and awareness. At Shedd Aquarium, you’ll find least 17 species of turtles that will connect you to the living world and, we hope, inspire you to make a difference. You can start in your own backyard—and maybe that’s the Great Lakes region.

Biodiversity: The Cichlids

Today, May 22, is International Biodiversity Day. Of the more than 1,500 species that you can see at Shedd, about 900 are fishes, almost equally divided between freshwater and marine species.

Endangered Species Have Their Day

May 17 is Endangered Species Day. But we live among threatened and endangered plant and animal species every day. You might see them during a bird walk on the lakefront or on a hike through the Cook County forest preserves. You will see them swimming in Shedd’s exhibits and even growing in our gardens.

Migratory Bird Day and Red-wing Springs

To celebrate International Migratory Bird Day—today!—we’re going to look at one of the most conspicuous migratory species that you’ll see on Shedd’s grounds. From its high-pitched trill to a flash of red on black to the surprising thunk on the back of your head, the red-winged blackbird is hard to ignore.

Celebrate Mexico's Aquatic Heritage at Shedd

It’s Cinco de Mayo, a major celebration in Chicago. At Shedd Aquarium, you’ll meet some of Mexico’s most intriguing freshwater animals, like the ghostly blind cave fish and those tadpoles for life, axolotls, in the Islands and Lakes gallery. The iguana habitat in this gallery features reef fishes you’d find if you were diving off Cozumel or Yucatan.

Shedd volunteers are long on service—and talent!

When was the last time you spent 9,000 hours doing something you love? Two of Shedd’s volunteers, Bob Lippold and Lori Wheeles, have given that much service to the aquarium, which divides out to 1,125 eight-hour days, and many, many more four-hour weekly volunteer days.

Under Pressure Today? Consider the Nautilus

It’s April 15, your tax returns must be postmarked by midnight, and maybe you’re feeling some pressure. But it’s nothing compared to what the deep-diving chambered nautilus has experienced for 500 million years.

April Fish of the Month: U.S. Pacific Cod

Choosing to eat sustainably can have a positive impact on the health of our oceans and lakes, which is why  Shedd’s Right Bite team highlights a sustainable seafood option every month. April’s Fish of the Month is U.S. Pacific cod.

Blind Seadragon Gets a Helping Hand

When the Fishes department moved a leafy seadragon into the 4,700-gallon kelp forest habitat on the Abbott Oceanarium’s Coastal Walkway habitat, the aquarists watched closely to make sure that the more animated weedy seadragons didn’t slurp up all the live mysid shrimp before the leafy got his share. “That’s when we noticed that the leafy wasn’t eating on his own,” aquarist Erika Moss says.

What to do? Hand-feed the seadragon, of course.