Mussels
On the river bottom, we are looking to freshwater mussels to help perform some of the more critical ecosystem roles, such as filter feeding and removing pollutants from the waterway. Mussels are the most endangered organisms on the planet, and have been largely expatriated from the Chicago River. We aim to correct the issues by designing and installing ‘mussel bunkers’ that provide the mussels with suitable habitat to allow them to thrive and help clean the river’s waters.
In 2021, the Wild Mile deployed two major expansions of some of our most crucial habitat types.
We installed more floating wetlands, as well as mussel bunkers, both of which will impact complementary ecosystems.
With the support of Molson-Coors and the grant we received from them in 2020, we were able to collect one gravid female mussel which has given birth to 1,000 babies, and with the support of the Urban Stream Lab, those mussel babies were brought back to the Chicago River in the Spring of 2022.