In Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, the National Aquarium has launched Harbor Wetland, a 10,000-square-foot floating wetland that mimics a Chesapeake Bay tidal marsh habitat. Located between Piers 3 and 4, the wetland features more than 32,000 native shrubs and marsh grasses and is based upon sustainable innovations developed by the Aquarium’s conservation and exhibit fabrication teams.
Harbor Wetland is a free and accessible experience available to Inner Harbor visitors. The $14 million project is funded by CFG Bank, with support from The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company, The Bunting Family Philanthropies and Constellation, the Aquarium’s philanthropic community, as well as local, state, and federal government support.
After months of construction, the Harbor Wetland exhibit is complete. (Official Images_Credit/ Philip Smith, National Aquarium)
“Harbor Wetland is the culmination of 12 years of research, innovation and determination,” said Aquarium President and CEO John Racanelli. “We’re so excited to welcome Baltimore residents and visitors out onto the water for a close-up view of the vibrant, living habitat taking root here in the Inner Harbor.”
A Floating Classroom
Harbor Wetland is a functional constructed wetland, a floating classroom, and engaging public attraction, outfitted with docks and walkways, and shade cover. Interpretive signage allows guests to learn about the wetland and its species while highlighting seasonal changes and the sights and sounds of the harbor. The habitat is made up of recycled plastic matting planted with tidal wetland shrubs and grasses native to the region. The plants’ roots will grow down into the water, providing microhabitats for dozens of native species and drawing nutrients and contaminants from the water. The matting is coated with a UV protectant for durability and fixed to a system of air-regulated pontoons that allow for adjustable buoyancy of the wetland to offset weight gain from growing biomass.
Water circulates through the wetland’s shallow channel by compressed air pumped into the channel using strategically placed airlifts. Compressed air is supplied to ceramic airstones positioned at the bottom of custom-designed six-foot-long airlift pipes. Thousands of tiny bubbles produced by the airstones rise to the surface, moving water through the wetland’s shallow channel. Bubbles also release oxygen into the surrounding water, benefitting aquatic species by raising dissolved oxygen levels and keeping water moving throughout the wetland as it would during tidal changes in a natural tidal marsh.
“Natural habitat restoration is a key part of our all-hands-on-deck strategy to improve the health of the Chesapeake Bay. That’s why I’ve fought to support the National Aquarium’s efforts to create this floating wetland right in the heart of downtown Baltimore. Not only will this innovative approach bring Bay wildlife back to the Inner Harbor; it will also serve as a living educational resource, helping strengthen the culture of shared responsibility for protecting our treasured Bay for generations to come,” said Senator Van Hollen, who worked to secure $564,700 to support this project through Congressionally Directed Spending and the Chesapeake WILD program.
Photo Gallery: National Aquarium Harbor Wetland
Plants, Patents And Partnerships
Application for three scientific patents has been submitted to the U.S. Patent Office under the direction of General Curator Jack Cover, a 37-year veteran of the National Aquarium; Director of Field Conservation Charmaine Dahlenburg, who oversees the Aquarium’s hands-on conservation projects throughout the Chesapeake Bay region; and Director of Exhibit Fabrication & Operations Paul Valiquette, who manages the Aquarium’s award-winning exhibit fabrication team. The patents sought relate to the buoyancy and aeration systems that make this floating wetland project different from previous prototypes developed at the National Aquarium and elsewhere. Patents are pending. The wetland system that now serves as the foundation for Harbor Wetland is an expansion of the ultimate successful wetland design that has been in the water between Piers 3 & 4 of the Aquarium’s campus for seven years.
(Photo credit: National Aquarium)
The project is transformational not only for the Aquarium and the Inner Harbor, but also for perceptions of the Inner Harbor, according to Cover.
“We hear so much negative talk about Inner Harbor water quality, but there is life in this water and there always has been,” he said. “My hope is that when people see the life this wetland attracts, from tiny microorganisms to fishes, crabs, water birds and even small mammals like muskrats and otters — all of which we’re already seeing here — they might reconsider our local waterways and perhaps even take better care of our natural surroundings.”
“The National Aquarium is one of my — and my family’s — favorite places, and our team at CFG has actively volunteered to help plant Harbor Wetland, so I couldn’t be more excited for its opening,” said CFG Bank CEO Jack Dwyer. “I’ve always been passionate about giving back to organizations rooted in education and recreation, and over the years, CFG has been proud to support the National Aquarium to further its mission. The opening of Harbor Wetland is an incredible milestone.”
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Throughout the process of realizing the vision for Harbor Wetland, the Aquarium’s team partnered with Baltimore-based architects Ayers Saint Gross, who integrated the science developed at the Aquarium into the design of the project’s “dry” and wetland functionality. In the construction and build-out of that final design, Baltimore’s Whiting-Turner served as the contractor, working within plans, conditions, and materials unique to this first-of-its-kind structure. At the project’s inception in 2014, Chicago-based Studio Gang participated as the original concept architects.
These partnerships were critical and transformative, according to Aquarium Vice President of Planning & Design Jacqueline Bershad.
“When undertaking something that has not been done before on this scale, it is so important to have partners who not only see but also believe in your vision,” said Bershad. “We have benefitted beyond measure from the expertise, flexibility and cooperation of our partners.”