Friday February 14 - the Shedd Aquarium

Another cloudy but fine day today, the wind factor was more evident today!

I set off for my usual bus stop and did not have to long to wait. However, when I reached the aquarium the queue was down to the bottom of the steps. it was apparently a free day for Illinois residents, I so wish I had known about that!! After waiting for five minutes and the queue had not moved I went in via the members door to ask the question as I had my City Pass ticket. i was sent to the Will Call queue, only two in front of me!!!


It was of course very crowded inside with lots of school groups taking the opportunity to visit as well and it made taking photos somewhat challenging. It is a great place to learn about the different life in the various types of water habitats around the world. Amongst them were islands & lakes, rivers, oceans, reefs, The Amazon and of course the Great Lakes had their own area. 

I saw some of the huge Carp that will be mentioned later as well as a very large Japanese Spider Crab! 

After walking through these areas I then went on to observe the otters, dolphins, penguins and the Beluga Whales some of these in the underwater area. The latter are an amazing colour of white although the one year old baby was grey in colour, they get whiter as they age! They seem to be a very placid, intelligent creature.


One of the adults was playing with a "toy" and I managed to catch the baby playing as well both from the underwater area as well as on the surface!

I was booked in for the Aquatic show at 12.30 but decided to go in a bit earlier to try and find a reasonable seat. While we were waiting, several videos were played about the Great Lakes and the issues surrounding their habitat.

Apparently the Asian Carp is swimming up the Mississippi and the Illinois rivers that go into Lake Michigan, they have been halted by an electronic barrier well down river from Chicago but there are concerns that they will somehow find a way to get into the lake. They are huge fish eating about 20% of their body weight each day feeding on the tiniest prey including Plankton that the Great Lakes need to survive. They reproduce quickly and also leap very high onto the air, even onto boats!! 

 The USA and Canada are working together to try and overcome this invasion. Incidentally the Great lakes contain 20% of all the earth's fresh water! Scientists are working hard at devising ways to overcome the Carp and one that has been suggested is very drastic, to cut off the Chicago canals from the rivers!! The canals were built over 100 years ago to take sewage from Chicago away from Lake Michigan.

Anyway, on to the show and for the show, the large window area is covered and there is artificial lighting. Now this was not the usual type of show where the Dolphins, first up, and then the Whales are set to entertain he audience.


Instead the training methods were demonstrated and how the whistle is used was very interesting. The dolphins love to splash and have their heads touched so this happens a lot to gain their trust and of course fishy rewards are also handed out!

Then they are taught hand signals and when they respond correctly the whistle is blown and it means thank you and well done. one of the dolphins was asked to jump high out of the water and did not get the whistle so repeated twice more until it got the whistle at the height of the jump!! They are also played with to get them used to various medical tests that are carried out regularly to check their health. We also know that dolphins are very intelligent and need different activities/challenges to keep them happy. Dolphins also love to swim on their backs to get a different view of their water world! We also saw a small group of penguins walk across the walkway as part of their training. 

A similar pattern is used with the Beluga Whales and when a whale is on training they are only asked to work in short sessions. These whales look so gentle! 

There is a young otter that was found on a beach in California and sent to the Shedd to be raised and it will soon join the others in their area. 

After the show I wandered through the tropical reef area I saw sting rays, small sharks, angel fish amongst others and also Nickel a Green Sea Turtle. 

She was left swimming with her head down, rump up after an accident with a boat. She came from Florida and is one example of a very endangered species. When the young are hatched they get confused by artificial light and end up travelling away of the sea!

 Because of the crowds and the noise I decided to make my way home earlier than intended and that became a mission too! The bus had waited at the Planetarium for about ten minutes (I know as I had seen it go down!) and then  another bus went along. Finally, it came along but then we had to sit in traffic as one of the School Bus drivers had decided to park in one of the two traffic lanes and pick up his passengers. He must have been there at least 15 minutes in spite of the hooting of other buses!! Meanwhile, the other 146 bus driver took matters into his own hands and went the wrong way down the other side of the road!! Lol!

Finally, we moved but I learned that Chicago on a Friday afternoon is not the place to be, traffic wise! If I was comfortable driving on the right hand side of the road, I still would not want to drive in Chicago or probably a large American city come to that!

Anyway, back to my favourite Starbucks, it is sad when the guy serving you knows your name!! then back to base via the USPS and the end of my stay in Chicago. I have enjoyed myself and there are still things to do here, maybe I will visit again BUT it will NOT be in winter!!

Lol!!!! It is 6 pm and I just looked out of the window - grid lock out there!!!!