Floating wetlands installed on South Branch of Chicago River for native wildlife

A 3,000-square-foot floating wetlands sits where the Chicago River meets Bubbly Creek near Bridgeport. It will create new habitat above and below the water’s surface, planners say. (Shedd Aquarium/Brenna Hernandez)

Thousands of square feet of floating wetlands have been installed in the South Branch of the Chicago River to attract native wildlife to a historically industrial stretch of the waterway on the Lower West Side.

The new archipelago of more than 3,000 square feet of floating wetlands is situated where the Chicago River meets Bubbly Creek near Bridgeport, Shedd Aquarium officials said in a statement.