Name the baby dolphin at Shedd Aquarium

Mother and son (he needs a name) at
Shedd Acquarium

Students from two local schools – South Loop Elementary School and John C. Haines Elementary School – have the unique opportunity to help Shedd Aquarium name its new Pacific white-sided dolphin calf. Shedd is currently hosting an online voting contest allowing the public to select a name for the male calf from among five options. Additionally, each of the names are being represented by a Chicago-area elementary school. Students from each school will serve as ambassadors for their name, writing essays, creating visual elements and conducting research to help persuade online voters to pick their name. The winning class will receive a day at Shedd which will give them the opportunity to learn more about the calf, his mother, and Pacific white-sided dolphins directly from Shedd’s animal care staff. All students from each of the participating classes will receive a poster featuring the dolphin calf.

The students from South Loop Elementary are representing the name Kusook (COO-sook) which means “play.” The students from Haines are representing the name Kisaani (kihs-AH-nee) which means “boy.”

The contest runs through Oct. 11.

Other names under consideration:

Atshi (AHT-shee), which means “music” or “singing”
Sagu (SAH-goo), which means “joy”
Kann (kahn), meaning “dolphin

“Shedd has a long tradition of giving its marine mammals names that reflect the geography or the culture of the region where those species occur in the wild. For Piquet’s calf, the marine mammal trainers researched a number of words to describe him, finally selecting five that have the most meaning to the calf and Shedd’s animal health team that cares for him every day.”

Shedd Aquarium is one of only four aquariums in the country that care for Pacific white-sided dolphins. To learn more about the calf-naming event, click here.