BALTIMORE — Baltimore's newest public park won't just be at the Inner Harbor, but in it.
Volunteers and National Aquarium staff were busy playing in the dirt on Friday, planting native wetland grasses on the new harbor wetland exhibit.
The 8,000 square feet floating park will eventually be lowered into the harbor, creating a habitat of tidal salt marshes that used to make up Baltimore's shoreline.
"Historically, there were tidal wetlands here at one point, but as you can see, this is a very thriving city and we hardened a lot of our shorelines and took away our natural habitats, and when you do that, you take away a lot of those valuable services like cleansing of the water and the environment the animals need to survive," said Charmaine Dahlenburg, director of field conservation at the National Aquarium.
The harbor wetland is a way to get those benefits back while keeping the benefits of a working harbor.
The free exhibit opens later this summer.
