Shedd Aquarium

The John Shedd Aquarium is a non-profit foundation for the purpose of furthering the public’s education of sea life, and the conservation of various species. It is one of the world’s biggest indoor aquariums.

The aquarium is home to well over 32,600 aquatic animals, which represents around 1,500 species of fish, reptiles, amphibians, invertebrates, birds and mammals from seas all around the world. The Shedd Aquarium is located on the shore of Lake Michigan, and is known as 'The World’s Aquarium'. Since it opened in 1930, the aquarium’s goal has always been to enhance the public’s knowledge and enjoyment of sea life.

Today, however, this educational mission has increased in importance since more and more species are becoming endangered. The John Shedd Aquarium is devoted to several projects that are designed to help preserve threatened or endangered sea creatures. An exciting new exhibit is now open called the Oceanarium. It is a first rate pavilion for marine mammals such as beluga whales, dolphins, sea otters, sea lions and penguins.

Other exhibits are home to creatures from reefs, Great Lakes and small ones, and of course the ocean. You can explore the Caribbean Reef, Amazon Rising’s flooded forest and the Pacific Northwest coast. http://www.sheddaquarium.org/explore_by_exhibit.html http://www.explorechicago.org/city/en/things_see_do/attractions/tourism/shedd_aquarium.html

John G. Shedd was the founder of the Shedd Aquarium. In the early 1920s every city had a fine aquarium, and while Chicago had an impressive freshwater fish collection in Lincoln Park Zoo, Shedd wanted a stand alone aquarium. So he donated 3 million dollars to make sure it would be a grand aquarium. A research team spent many months visiting and researching the top aquariums around the world. On December 19, 1929, people gathered for a sneak preview of the aquarium’s only exhibit: one large freshwater pool featuring fishes, reptiles and amphibians.

Over the next year, over a million gallons of seawater were shipped from Florida to fill the new exhibits. This made Shedd the first inland aquarium with a permanent saltwater collection. On May 30, 1930, the aquarium officially opened to the public. Sadly, John Shedd only lived long enough to see the architect’s first drawings of his aquarium. His wife, Mary R. Shedd, cut the ribbon at the official opening ceremony.