America's 100 Must See Exhibits
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31. Abbott Oceanarium
Shedd Aquarium, IL
Opened: 1991
Size: 3 Million Gallons (11 Million Liters)
Inhabitants: Pacific White-sided Dolphin, Beluga Whale, California Sea Lion, Sea Otter and a few fish and invertebrates.
At 170,000 square feet, this Pacific Northwest themed pavilion is the largest indoor centacean facility in the world. There are a total of three million gallons of water among four pools rotated between dolphins and belugas. The aquarium takes advantage of its location by using Lake Michigan as a natural backdrop to the dolphin and whale pools which while not always convincing is very scenic. The cetacean tanks are quite large and among some of the best of their kind in the US, but the adjacent sea otter and sea lion enclosures aren’t anything special and were clearly an afterthought by comparison. The otter pool is very deep and features viewing from two levels, but lacks very much substantial land space. The sea lion pool is just a small alcove and is similarly underwhelming, but there is a rather elaborate series of behind-the-scenes pools for both species so the actual amount of space they access to isn't as small as it may appear. At the very least the sea lions frequently leave their enclosure to participate in the dolphin shows which are done very professionally and avoid circus shenanigans at all costs. The marine mammals will inevitably steal the show, but be careful not to miss a handful of tidal pools dotted through the complex as well that feature several species of cuttlefish and some Pacific Northwest native urchins and sea stars.
@pachyderm pro
@ChunkyMunky pengopus
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@Moebelle
Similar Exhibits: None
Shedd Aquarium, IL
Opened: 1991
Size: 3 Million Gallons (11 Million Liters)
Inhabitants: Pacific White-sided Dolphin, Beluga Whale, California Sea Lion, Sea Otter and a few fish and invertebrates.
At 170,000 square feet, this Pacific Northwest themed pavilion is the largest indoor centacean facility in the world. There are a total of three million gallons of water among four pools rotated between dolphins and belugas. The aquarium takes advantage of its location by using Lake Michigan as a natural backdrop to the dolphin and whale pools which while not always convincing is very scenic. The cetacean tanks are quite large and among some of the best of their kind in the US, but the adjacent sea otter and sea lion enclosures aren’t anything special and were clearly an afterthought by comparison. The otter pool is very deep and features viewing from two levels, but lacks very much substantial land space. The sea lion pool is just a small alcove and is similarly underwhelming, but there is a rather elaborate series of behind-the-scenes pools for both species so the actual amount of space they access to isn't as small as it may appear. At the very least the sea lions frequently leave their enclosure to participate in the dolphin shows which are done very professionally and avoid circus shenanigans at all costs. The marine mammals will inevitably steal the show, but be careful not to miss a handful of tidal pools dotted through the complex as well that feature several species of cuttlefish and some Pacific Northwest native urchins and sea stars.
@pachyderm pro
@ChunkyMunky pengopus
@pachyderm pro
@snowleopard
@Moebelle
Similar Exhibits: None
Persephone
Well-Known Member
Oh hey, called it. I will say that I like the sea otter exhibit. Every time I’ve been the otters have been active and playing with some interesting toys. It doesn’t have much land, as you noted, but they have more water volume than Georgia. I think I’ve only seen sea otters at four zoos, though, so I can’t comment on others.
The sea lion exhibit, though, is really only defensible for elderly and disabled individuals.
The sea lion exhibit, though, is really only defensible for elderly and disabled individuals.
Everyone has mentioned good examples in US, I'm personally gonna mention my hometown zoo in Indonesia, Taman Safari, which had an impressive aviary on the entrance of Baby Zoo with the ability of utilizing the nature of the mountains and turn it into a suitable environment for the living birds and waterfowls. If I ever go to US to visit a zoo, a walkthrough aviary is certainly anywhere but on the top of my list of exhibits that I must see, even if it has a rare stork that not a lot of zoos had.
While that is not a requirement per se, I do believe there are some aspects of the exhibits that I feel like it should be impressive on its own even when the animals are not around. For example, if you remove the stork from the Stork Aviary, it basically look just like a normal walkthrough aviary. But I feel like even if you remove the Polar Bears from Arctic Ring of Life, you can still easily appreciate the exhibit because simply put, there are no other polar bear exhibits this large and managed to basically replicate straight from the North Pole. The seals are gone but even without them they are still an absolute must see exhibit. Afterall, the main focus of this list are the exhibits for the most part, so design and structure heavily factors into what is must see and not.
Pleistocene891
Well-Known Member
Does Shedd have any cetacean controversy?31. Abbott Oceanarium
Shedd Aquarium, IL
Opened: 1991
Size: 3 Million Gallons (11 Million Liters)
Inhabitants: Pacific White-sided Dolphin, Beluga Whale, California Sea Lion, Sea Otter and a few fish and invertebrates.
At 170,000 square feet, this Pacific Northwest themed pavilion is the largest indoor centacean facility in the world. There are a total of three million gallons of water among four pools rotated between dolphins and belugas. The aquarium takes advantage of its location by using Lake Michigan as a natural backdrop to the dolphin and whale pools which while not always convincing is very scenic. The cetacean tanks are quite large and among some of the best of their kind in the US, but the adjacent sea otter and sea lion enclosures aren’t anything special and were clearly an afterthought by comparison. The otter pool is very deep and features viewing from two levels, but lacks very much substantial land space. The sea lion pool is just a small alcove and is similarly underwhelming, but there is a rather elaborate series of behind-the-scenes pools for both species so the actual amount of space they access to isn't as small as it may appear. At the very least the sea lions frequently leave their enclosure to participate in the dolphin shows which are done very professionally and avoid circus shenanigans at all costs. The marine mammals will inevitably steal the show, but be careful not to miss a handful of tidal pools dotted through the complex as well that feature several species of cuttlefish and some Pacific Northwest native urchins and sea stars.
@pachyderm pro
@ChunkyMunky pengopus
@pachyderm pro
@snowleopard
@Moebelle
Similar Exhibits: None
Not sure what you mean by this? Cetaceans are by their very nature controversial when kept in captivity. But Shedd's cetacean exhibits aren't any more controversial than normal cetacean exhibits, if that's what your asking.
One more humorous thing about the exhibit is that the drains are not at the lowest point of the cetacean pools, so they cannot be drained properly.
Shedd has managed to stay fairly above the fray as far as cetaceans in captivity go. While of course cetaceans in captivity are at the moment very controversial, Shedd hasn't had to deal with the multitude of issues that have plagued other cetacean holders. If there's one institution that has done the best job of any cetacean holder to stay rather controversy-free, it's Shedd. It helps that there isn't much of a ground to attack Shedd on, barring the typical "whales in zoos are like living in a bathtub" argument that's thrown at any holder. The exhibits are spacious and look fairly naturalistic (along with Mystic, Shedd is likely has one of the two best cetacean exhibits in the United States), the aquarium is well-regarded for it's focuses on conservation, education, and research, they haven't dealt with any imports/acquisitions/premature deaths in recent years (or at least none that I can think of), and part of it is likely differing regional attitudes towards cetaceans.
While I agree with nearly all of what was said here, naturalistic is one thing Shedd's cetacean exhibits are not. They look like a really big bathtub (from the underwater viewing anyway).
I think this is their biggest factor, along with not holding Orca. They lack the flagship species of the anti groups and Shedd's groups have generally been pretty free of issues to pin. The aquarium just isn't worth any effort to try and attack on cetacean issues.
And what underwater viewings for cetaceans don't look like a really big bathtub? At the very least, the Shedd underwater viewings don't have massive, artificial-looking (and often dirty-looking) back walls that Epcot, NAIB, etc., have. Plus, for what it's worth, the open ocean could also be described as looking like a "really big bathtub".
Wait what? How? Who? Why?
A mistake on the part of the part of the builders.
I was definitely aware of San Diego at both, and Tampa only recently, but the others are new to me. I appreciate this information so I can make note to see some of these in the future. California and Florida of course have the ability to build a lot more of these exhibits being warm year-round and more tropical. I hadn't heard about Columbus having one before though!
Indonesia sounds like they have some amazing zoos as I have seen here and other threads. I am sure if I visited Night Safari that I would never care to see another nocturnal building in my life. On the other hand, I certainly could not have predicted any of the Chicago exhibits that have made the list, nor do I expect any more than we've seen. I can't imagine anyone coming here from anywhere outside the United States to see the Pepper Wildlife Center, Tropic World or the Abbott Oceanarium. It's frankly impossible for me to imagine anyone visiting any facility in the midwestern United States from outside the country, although I suppose Detroit would probably be the most appealing. It seems like it has a shot at top ten zoos in the country given they have three or four of the best exhibits here.
The usual conversations about the Shedd is all collection and species counts, not exhibit design, and this is one of the cornerstones of comparisons between it and the Georgia Aquarium. The aquarium is extremely well-known, which to me makes it all the more surprising that very few of the exhibits seem to have much reputation.
In terms of local conversation, definitely not. Everyone in Chicago loves the Shedd Aquarium and I've never heard of protest or complaint with it around here. The marine shows have always been somewhat lowkey here and educational, at least that I've seen, the primary exhibit is rather large, and I think importantly, the animals have been maintained with a lot of stability -- there are no stories of attacks or unexplained deaths, like some marine mammal facilities.
Boy do you not know how I wish I was able to visit US and go visit their amazing zoos. ESPECIALLY Omaha and Columbus, I would die to visit Lied Jungle and Heart of Africa if I could. Saint Louis and Shedd looks absolutely impressive to me as well, I would be lying if I'm not jealous of americans who can visit such amazing zoos.
And contrary to your belief, not really. While there are good zoos here and there in Indonesia, frankly speaking most of them had pretty bad aspects here and there. Especially when you look at the conditions on some of the living captive animals here. Taman Safari is great but the whole taking photos with baby wild animals thing as well as several of their circus like shows certainly does not sit very well to me.
I recall hearing that aside from Ocean Voyager and the new shark complex, Georgia's exhibitry is rather boring - something that is definitely not the case at Shedd! I honestly have no idea where you're getting this idea that Shedd doesn't have very good exhibitry. Nearly all of their exhibits are world-class, blow-your-socks off impressive, to the point where I feel like we should wait on this discussion because there's no way most or all of them won't appear later on this thread. Especially considering the Oceanarium was already featured - I would argue it's actually one of Shedd's least impressive exhibits.
You also talk about collection and species counts as if they don't factor into this thread at all - they may not be a huge factor but I doubt they aren't being considered at all.
For what it's worth, when I made my list of predictions for what will be in this thread, I included eight Chicago exhibits on that list. The three that were already included were on my list of guesses, along with Amazon Rising and Wild Reef from Shedd, and the Macaque Forest, African Journey, and Center for African Apes from Lincoln Park Zoo. While of course my predictions haven't been (and won't continue to be) 100% accurate (so far I've correctly guessed 20/30), I'd be very surprised if none of these five outstanding Chicago exhibits make the list.
I recently visited the Lisbon Aquarium and noticed the severe lack of land area for their Sea Otters too. But after researching them a bit more, I was surprised to learn that they very rarely go on land in the wild, and the reasons that they do are generally scenarios they wouldn’t experience in captivity.
A small percentage of Sea Otters actually never go on land their entire life!
There were major controversies when the Oceanarium first opened in 1991 - like all cetacean exhibits that opened. Shedd has remained out of the fray recently, but they still have been a part of some major embarrassments over the years, the last occurring in 2012-2013/ 2015-2016.
- In 1989, before the Oceanarium even opened, Shedd wanted to import False killer whales from Japan - that was squashed by a successful petition from an animal rights group due to the drive hunts associated with those captures.
- In 1992, during the first of two captures for belugas in Hudson Bay, two of the six belugas died within 20 minutes of each other after a series of inoculations (Battle over Belugas). Canada subsequently closed all capture of belugas in the Hudson.
- In 1993, Shedd captured 3 Pacific white sided dolphin off the coast of California (Ship Captures 3 Dolphins After Evading Activists : Wildlife: Protesters had hoped to stop the expedition by a Chicago aquarium. The animals are kept temporarily in a holding tank in San Diego.). The amount of bad press enraged Californian officials so much that the National Marine Fisheries Service also closed those waters to additional captures forever. I believe this was the last cetacean capture in U.S. waters. Four Lags were previously collected in 1988 under the same collection permit.
- Most recently, in 2012, they (along with Mystic and Sea World) were a part of Georgia Aquarium's embarrassing and botched permit to import up to 18 beluga whales captured in Russian waters. NOAA denied the permit after the capture violated the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Georgia, Shedd, and Mystic lost on appeal in federal court in 2015-2016 (Sea World dropped out of the permit after Georgia issued the appeal). (NOAA Fisheries denies application to import 18 beluga whales for public display).