Dr. Rae Wynn Grant
Brad Parks
Bill the Coho Salmon
The Tennessee Aquarium will host guests from Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom Protecting the Wild TV series and Oregon-based nonprofit Washed Ashore.
Part of their visit will include a river clean-up at Renaissance Park in downtown Chattanooga on Wedesday, from 10:30-11:30 a.m. at Renaissance Park. Participants in the clean up will meet by the park's pavilion.
The hosts are Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant, co-host of Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom Protecting the Wild, and Brad Parks, conservation/education director of Washed Ashore.
Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom Protecting the Wild and Washed Ashore have partnered to raise awareness of marine conservation and the importance of healthy waterways. Washed Ashore provides this messaging through the creation of large, colorful sculptures of wildlife using plastic debris collected from beaches in Oregon. Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom is the latest iteration of an Emmy Award-winning educational TV series that originally aired from 1963 to 1985.
Now through the July 4 holiday weekend (Sunday, July 6), one of Washed Ashore’s latest sculptures, Bill the Coho Salmon, will be on display outside the Tennessee Aquarium's River Journey building. During their June 18 visit, Parks and Dr. Wynn-Grant will assist with the river clean-up. Their visit will also include privately engaging with the Aquarium’s summer fellows, speaking to Aquarium campers, and touring the Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute's freshwater field station.