SHEDD AQUARIUM INVITES CHICAGOANS TO KAYAK FOR CONSERVATION ON THE CHICAGO RIVER

The Shedd Aquarium is hosting its Kayaking for Conservation excursion now through the end of the summer. Photo Credit: Shedd Aquarium
The Shedd Aquarium is hosting its Kayaking for Conservation excursion now through the end of the summer. Photo Credit: Shedd Aquarium

Shedd Aquarium Invites Chicagoans To Kayak For Conservation On The Chicago River

BY KATHERINE NEWMAN

Throughout the summer, the Shedd Aquarium will hosts a unique kayaking experience on the Chicago River through their Kayak for Conservation program which will allow participants to paddle the North Branch Canal with the Aquarium’s wildlife conservation experts to pick up litter, collect data, and observe animals in their natural habitats.

“People know the Shedd Aquarium as a destination to come see amazing animals from all over the world but we’re also a conservation organization and bring a lot of our expertise outside of our walls. That work has brought us to all sorts of different aquatic environments, especially in the Chicago area, to help restore them and create more biodiversity in our area. The Chicago River is really a pretty prime opportunity for Shedd to do some work both to improve habitat and also to connect people to the river and get them to help care for it and conserve it along with us,” said Jaclyn Wegner, director of Conservation Action at the Shedd Aquarium.

There are two different Kayak for Conservation experiences.

The first is River Explorers which takes place every week from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. on Monday and Saturday. River Explorers is more of an introductory paddling experience that would be good for beginners. This experience is focused on getting people familiar with the Chicago River and the threats that it faces along with what can be done to protect it. The cost is $40 per person or $34 for Shed Aquarium members.

The second kayaking experience is River Monitors which are better suited for intermediate kayakers. This program gives participants a deeper understanding of the ecology of the Chicago River and allows them to collect data for conservation research as well as pick up trash and observe native species and their habitats. River Monitors takes place every other week from 1 to 4 p.m. on Saturday and Monday. The cost is $50 per person or $42 for Shedd Aquarium members.

“In a lot of ways, Chicago is here because of the river and it has served a lot of purposes for us in our economy and our industry. Still today it’s used a lot for shipping and we see a lot of barge traffic out on the river,” said Wegner. “We have a lot of urban wildlife, and we have animals that are living in the river and using it as their habitat and that kind of really harkens back to what the river originally was, a natural space.”

The Shedd Aquarium has created floating habitats, or islands, on the Chicago River to help improve the water quality of the canal and the river downstream. The floating habitats are home to over a dozen different plant species that grow both above and below the water’s surface and create space for native wildlife.

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