A world where life flutters, shimmers and gently sways, like the forest scenes from the original “Avatar” movie — a kaleidoscope of colors that shouldn’t exist in nature.
Corals in pink, purple, peach, turquoise — some shaped like crumpled velvet, other resembling fantastical wind instruments or dinner plates.
That’s the saltwater side of Shedd’s new “Wonder of Water” centerpiece beneath its rotunda — part of $250 million worth of renovations, expected to be complete in 2027.
It has replaced the Caribbean Reef, a living carousel of sea creatures — turtles, rays, bonnethead sharks and fish with scales like polished armor.
Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
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Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
In the new exhibit, open to the public on Tuesday, a curved walkway cuts between two kidney-shaped tanks — the other, a freshwater world — where before, there was just one huge tank.
The re-imagined space may come as a shock to repeat visitors for whom the Caribbean Reef was a must-see — especially when staff dropped into the tank in scuba gear to feed the hungry residents. The previous tank was built in the early 1970s; when the aquarium opened in 1930, the space contained an open-air “swamp” — a rock garden and sunken tropical pool, filled with turtles, frogs and fish.
A crowd in 1930 looks at the open-air “swamp,” filled with turtles, frogs and fish, that used to occupy the space under the Shedd Aquarium rotunda..
Sun-Times file
“You don’t have to get rid of something, but when you think about what Shedd exists for — to spark that curiosity, to spark the conservation … that care for the aquatic environment — all of that happens because people are drawn in and they connect with animals,” said Sarah Hezel, Shedd’s vice president for design and exhibits. “We are constantly trying to figure out the best way, even more improved ways, to care for the animals that are in our collection and even more impressive ways to connect people to them.”
But “impressive” doesn’t mean bigger in a space hemmed in by Shedd’s Beaux-Arts style octagonal glass dome.
“This is a very unique space within Shedd. It has architecture with a capital ‘A.’ You have to address the space,” Hazel said.
The new exhibit will help connect visitors to the more expansive areas devoted to saltwater and freshwater, including a planned 175,000-gallon tank — featuring an acrylic visitor tunnel — that will house many of the sea creatures visitors saw in the old Caribbean Reef, including Nickel, the green sea turtle. That exhibit is expected to open in spring 2026.
The old saltwater tank, unlike the new one, had fake coral — for a number of reasons.
“To have fish that we had of that size producing that much waste, the necessary filtration is almost impossible, which is why you’ll see smaller but more numerous schools of fish in here,” Brendan Wylie, an aquarist who specializes in the study of coral reefs.
Fish like the bubblegum-pink Anthias or the midnight-blue Purple Tang.
The centerpiece of the freshwater tank is a ropy, submerged tree trunk (made of fiberglass) that offers habitat for the fish, which include shimmering Moonlight gouramis, native to the tropics.
Hezel understands that visitors may be more drawn to the showier corals.
“There’s always something stunning about living corals,” she said, But, “it’s the contrast: When you walk into this space, you see that there is a color contrast, there is a movement contrast between the two. And they are all essential habitats — and the health of any one aquatic habitat feeds into the health of another.”