The animals are always safe when these divers are in the water

Among Shedd’s160 volunteer divers are four members of the Chicago Police Department’s Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team. Brian Doyle (from left in photo, shown with Betty Goldberg), Neil Shelton El, Dave (Angel) Romero and John Hroma help with the maintenance dives in the Oceanarium.

Jazzin’ Plus: That doesn’t look like a dolphin in the pool

At Shedd you can see more than 1,500 species, from crustaceans to cetaceans. Add another during Jazzin’: Aquapeople. They’re the scuba divers who weekly maintain the Oceanarium pools.

Ken Ramirez, executive vice president of animal programs and training, says, "We always do our cleaning dives at night. Over the years, we’ve found that guests really enjoy seeing us in the water, so during the summer, we purposely schedule dives during the peak time that people are in the Oceanarium for Jazzin’."

August birthdays at Shedd

Cetaceans celebrating birthdays in August include four beluga whales and one Pacific white-sided dolphin. That’s one big splash party in Whale Harbor!

Beginning with the most august of Shedd’s whales, our big male, Naluark, turns 24. At least that’s our best estimate. He was 10½ feet long and about 1,000 pounds—within range for a 6-year-old—when he came to Shedd in 1992. To give you an idea of how belugas bulk up as they grow, he now carries more than a ton on a 13-foot frame. But he carries it well, with rippling horizontal "rails" of blubber along his length. Naluark, who frequently appears in Fantasea, is easily recognizable by his snowy white skin. He sired Bella, Miki and the newest calf, Nunavik.

Beluga birthdays in July

Time to send a shout-out to beluga whale Bella, who turns 4 on Saturday. This playful girl is so interactive that she just might send a high-pitched squeal back! She’s one of three Shedd whales whose birthdays we’re observing in July.

Shedd at night - Playtime

Come to Jazzin’ at the Shedd to see things you wouldn’t during regular hours! Like pool toys—very sturdy pool toys—in the Oceanarium habitats.

"One of the things we do for the animals at night is enrichment," says Ken Ramirez, executive vice president, animal programs and training. "During the day, we focus on training and personal interactions. At night, when we go home, we put enrichment items"— toys—"into the habitats for the animals to play with."

In Memory of Nuka

Shedd employees were saddened to learn that Nuka, one of the Oceanarium’s original sea otters, died on Thursday, May 27, at the Seattle Aquarium, where she had lived since 2001. The 21-year-old northern sea otter had been part of Shedd’s quartet of Exxon Valdez oil spill survivors. Like the others, Nuka (shown in the center of this 1990 photo) was a pup when she was pulled from the fouled waters of Prince William Sound in spring of 1989 and sent to a sea otter rescue center for around-the-clock care. Tiny pups orphaned or abandoned in the aftermath of the spill could not be released back into the wild on their own, so the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service placed them at qualified North American aquariums. Shedd’s were the first sea otters on display in the Midwest.

Beluga Calf Update - Next step, he gets a name!

If you haven’t visited the beluga calf in more than a few weeks, you will be amazed at his progress. He’s more than 6 feet long and weighs about 400 pounds. In fact, he has traded his fetal folds for rolls of baby blubber. He’s big enough to actively play with Bella, 3½ (and the calf’s full sister), and (half-brother) Miki, 2½. He even barges in on their games. The other day, the trainers placed a huge knotted nautical rope in Secluded Bay for the whales to play with. Bella and Miki were doing headstands on the bottom as they jostled to grab the end of the rope in their mouths. The calf used his head, literally, to push the big rope away from both of them. Did I see him crack a smile?

Beluga calf update - Public debut

For his public debut last week, the beluga calf was in the reassuring company of mom Puiji and "auntie" Naya, our reliable beluga babysitter. But he is so focused on Mom, Naya and having fun – playing with toys, zooming around the pool – that he hasn’t noticed the guests yet!

Penguin post - Nesting time

It’s April 15, and you know what that means… it’s time to put nesting rocks in the penguin habitat! Thanks to a nutritious diet, a realistic landscape and exhibit lights that are timed to replicate seasonal changes in day length, the rockhopper penguins are going into mating mode. Each year around April 15, we begin scattering smooth river rocks, small enough to fit in a cupped hand or a penguin’s mouth, throughout the rocky exhibit. Pretty soon the males are picking them up and waddling them over to prime nesting real estate. One male has actually staked out two nest sites. Another, who has been stealing rocks from his neighbors, has constructed a nest in the center of the habitat. We’ve also put out twigs to encourage the two mated pairs of Magellanic penguins. This species nests under shrubs or in shallow sand burrows. The trainers say, however, that these birds are still pretty new to the habitat and may not feel settled in enough to breed this year. Meanwhile, the rockhoppers have decided that the twigs add a nice touch—or maybe feel—to their nests. While the birds are totally serious about this—and even more territorial than usual—it’s a lot of fun to watch. Visit soon!

Beluga calf update: games and groups

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.