In a recently published AZA Pig, Peccary, and Hippo TAG document it mentioned the possibility of the Shedd Aquarium considering pygmy hippos after 2010. I found a website with a summary of US aquariums and contains the following information regarding the Shedd's future... It appears that the Shedd will be able to continue to compete with the Georgia Aquarium for the "World's Largest Aquarium" title. Here's a link to the website for those interested. Techno Ocean: Resources Included in the Aquarium's masterplan are exhibits for: Caribbean Reef - complete Amazon River - complete Indo-Pacifc Coral Reefs - complete Pacific Northwest - Oceanarium will receive renovation next year East Africa Lakes & Waters Illinois Waters Florida Everglades
Interesting that the Georgia Aquarium surpassed John G. Shedd in terms of "world's largest", and that they are now both planning enormous expansions. I've got them pencilled in for this summer's road trip, and will make the decision then on which is the greater establishment. Monterey Bay Aquarium is one of the best I've ever seen, and it's definitely not as large as the other two.
Oceanarium section closing for nine months Shedd Oceanarium to close for upkeep -- -- chicagotribune.com
I'm visiting Shedd just in time! It will be interesting to see what happens to the attendance figures, after back-to-back years of 2.1 million visitors and years of incredible support from the city of Chicago. When the Oceanarium re-opens in summer 2009 there will probably be people lining up down the street to see their beluga whales, dolphins and sea otters.
Massive migration of cetaceans from Chicago to Connecticut: Shedd Aquarium moves 7 whales to Conn. :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Metro & Tri-State
Shedd can't find the drain The Shedd Aquarium found a small problem when renovating the Oceanarium. Shedd overcomes lack of drain to empty Oceanarium pools -- chicagotribune.com
LOL ... better to have a pool designed (on purpose) without a drain, than a pool with a drain that is not at the lowest point of the pool!
I'm amazed that this Oceanarium tank was designed with such a basic waterproofing system. The specification should have been much better than a paint finish with a 10 year life.
Shedd Aquarium's lungfish celebrates a milestone: It's been a long swim for Shedd's ambassador -- chicagotribune.com
Nice link to the outstanding Shedd Aquarium, and it is going to be cool to hear about reactions from visitors on the renovated beluga, california sea lion, dolphin and sea otter pools. I wonder how much the aquarium will charge for the "wading into the water to see beluga whales" experience?
From the video, it sounds like only the belugas will be returning; the Pacific white-sided dolphins are not mentioned at all, and are only shown in a few photos.
Good point Ungulate, and I saw beluga heads popping out of the water in one of the drawings of the main pool. I loved the Shedd Aquarium when I visited last summer, and I'm thankful that the weak links (sea otter and sea lion habitats) will hopefully be greatly improved after the renovation.
I found that odd as well. How long have they had sea lions? When I was there (which was a long time ago) they had harbor seals.
I like the idea of hippos in an aquarium. I think the pygmy species will do better just from a spatial standpoint. The only ones I've seen in one were the river hippos at the Camden aquarium, and it was relatively unimpressive. The exhibit wasn't terribly large and the pool with viewing windows was murky with hippo poo. Hopefully the Shedd can come out with their usual outstanding exhibitry. I wonder if they'll include any primates in such an arrangement. Amazon Rising has some small ones and the African concept would certainly lend itself to the possiblity.
Interesting that the link text doesn't really seem to match up with the video posted on here yesterday; to me it sounded as if the southern pool was going to become more of a "maternity" exhibit/area. In the mock-ups of the revamped Oceanarium, it appears that the windows behind the pools are going to be covered with a mural (hopefully on translucent panels to let some light shine in)
This may answer your question about the sea lions... Trapped sea lions cleared for transfer to aquarium | Local News | kgw.com | News for Portland Oregon and SW Washington
