This week, Shedd Aquarium helped to relocate Ginsu —an incredibly rare, 14-foot-long green sawfish— to a new home at the AZA-accredited Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta. This incredible feat of collaboration and logistics was done with Ginsu’s best interests at heart and in mind— to provide greater opportunity for her to continue to grow and thrive.
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Ginsu, a green sawfish, came to Shedd in 2003 as we prepared to open the now popular Wild Reef exhibit focused on aquatic life and livelihoods of the Philippines. A native range to this species, at that time of her arrival she was a mere six feet long and her habitat was specifically designed to satisfy her environmental and social needs.
Fast-forward 18 years later, and Ginsu has grown significantly, now measuring 14 feet in length and weighing in at more than 450 pounds. During this time, we also learned more about Ginsu as an individual — including how quickly she learned and adapted to her environment. We also learned more about her species biology and behavior.
As she continued to grow, we needed to make modifications to her home to accommodate her increase in size, with her comfort and welfare as our top priority.
Also during this time, scientific surveys commissioned by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature revealed that all five species of sawfish that exist in the world today are at risk of extinction, and thus now considered endangered. Green sawfish like Ginsu are considered critically endangered.
As is customary at Shedd, we continually reviewed the welfare of Ginsu to determine if her needs were still being met.
Ultimately, the answer was that the right and best thing to do to ensure Ginsu could continue to thrive as she keeps growing was to relocate her to another home. We worked with our good partners at Georgia Aquarium, who were willing and capable of providing that new space and continued quality of care.
What is more— Georgia Aquarium is already home to a male of her increasingly rare species. Bringing these two animals together means both organizations can make a continued commitment to researching and better understanding a species whose wild counterparts need our protection now more than ever.
How do you move an animal of that size?
Ginsu’s longtime caretakers have worked for years to build trust and acclimate her to our presence. This helps make check-ups with our veterinary team easier for both parties, and in this instance, prepared her well for the relocation.
Aquarists from Georgia Aquarium drove to Chicago with a truck specially equipped for the needs of large aquatic animals like Ginsu, including a mobile life support and filtration system.
Shedd staff who had looked after Ginsu for nearly two decades were in the water with her as she swam safely and calmly into the hammock that lifted her from her home in Wild Reef and into the transport vehicle.
Staff from both aquariums were with her for the entire trip, closely monitoring her health and wellbeing.
Saying Goodbye
While we are sad to see Ginsu leave Shedd Aquarium, it is the right decision for her continued welfare. We are proud of the incredible care we were humbled to provide in her nearly two decades at Shedd. Her impact on guests in Chicago was immeasurable, and we can’t wait to see how her presence will continue to inspire guests in Atlanta.
Over the last 18 years, more than 36 million guests got to look nature in the eye and learn more about this deep-ocean species. Though thousands of miles from the ocean, Chicagoans were inspired to better understand how we are all connected, and that we all have a part to play in safeguarding our shared blue planet.