Shedd Aquarium

Greetings!

This is the third of eight posts sharing my recent adventures in downtown Chicago during the Summer of 2024:

B1: Chicago Overview, CityPASS, & Millennium Park

B2: Field Museum of Natural History

B3: Shedd Aquarium (this post)

B4: Museum of Science and Industry

B5: Art Institute of Chicago (Part 1)

B6: Art Institute of Chicago (Part 2)

B7: Willis/Sears Tower Skydeck, the Rookery, Chicago Fed Money Museum, Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago Cultural Center, & Design Museum of Chicago

B8: Medieval Torture Museum (NSFW)

Today's spotlight is on the Shedd Aquarium. We'll be covering the dolphins, otters, penguins, turtles, the Wild Reef area, 4-D experience, and touch pools. All of the pictures in this post were taken by me except for the one map of the aquarium.

SHEDD AQUARIUM

1200 S. DuSable Lake Shore Drive
Chicago, IL 60605

It is possible to walk or bike to the Shedd Aquarium. In fact, I walked between Millennium Park and the Museum Campus area several times (about a 25 minute walk each way). You will have to cross normal street intersections but there are pedestrian underpasses and overpasses that let you avoid certain major streets, like portions of Lake Shore Drive.

Website: https://www.sheddaquarium.org/

Hours: Varies depending on the day. Please check the website's calendar for the most up-to-date information. Generally the Shedd Aquarium seems to be open daily opening at 9 A.M. and closing between 5 P.M. - 6 P.M. but some days may have a late closing (as late as 9 P.M. - 10 P.M.) and on rare occasions it may even have an early close at 2 P.M.

Cost (as of 2024):

The Shedd Aquarium uses a plan-ahead pricing tool where you get cheaper rates if you purchase your ticket in advance and has higher rates for popular days and times.

Typically, General Admission ranges from $36.95 - $43.95 for Adults (Age 12+) and $27.70 - $32.95 for Children (3 - 11). Infants are FREE.

Chicago residents get a discounted rate of $19.95 for Adults and $14.95 for Children. This is a fixed rate regardless of day or time.

The Shedd Aquarium offers several Animal Encounters packages which include general admission. Availability varies and there are a limited number of tickets:

Must See Tour: 75-minute guided tour, $80 Adult (Ages 12+), $70 Children (6 - 11), $65 Members (regardless of age).

Shark Feeding Tour or Penguin Encounter: $99.95 Adult (Ages 12+), $89.95 Children (6 - 11), $80.95 Members.

Sea Otter or Sea Lion Encounter: $134.95 Adult (Ages 12+), $124.95 Children (6 - 11), $108.95 Members.

Beluga Encounter: $205 Non-Member, $165 Members.

Add-Ons:

4-D Experience (Octopus, Shark, or Penguins): $4.95 Non-Member, $2.95 Member.
Virtual Reality: $9 Non-Member, $7 Member. If you buy 2 or 3 rides, you save a little per ride.

Chicago C3 provides general admission. The full Chicago CityPASS provides general admission plus a 4-D Experience (though when I went to the Shedd Aquarium they said it granted two of the three 4-D Experiences).

Shedd Aquarium offers occasional Illinois Resident Free Days. Space is limited and advance reservations are recommended.

Free general admission is available for Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin educators, Chicago police officers and firefighters, and active duty U.S. military personnel (all with proper ID).

There are also discounts for members of reciprocal partner organizations (i.e. other organizations in the Association of Zoos & Aquariums).

Estimated Time: 2 hours

On this visit I spent 3 hours which was more than enough.

Right now there are several exhibits that are closed due to construction. Most of the frogs and reptiles are not viewable. New upcoming exhibits include a tunnel, a new Caribbean exhibit, and an updated Amazon Rising exhibit. All told, about 80% of the exhibits were still accessible on my visit.

Also, a new beluga calf had recently been born in July 2024 so the beluga section was cordoned off for privacy (which also made the sea lions inaccessible as well). There are still occasional beluga live shows but most of the shows I saw were the dolphins.

Every 60 - 90 minutes there is a free 10-minute Animal Spotlight event where you can see dolphins, sea lions, or beluga whales. What type of animal it will be is not planned in advance - it depends on what animals are in the mood, which is good for animal welfare. There is limited seating and they don't let people stand or sit in the aisles so you should arrive early. If I had planned better I could have finished the aquarium in 2 hours instead of staying an extra hour.

If you like to read all of the informational displays or are bringing along children, you could spend an extra hour or two. Otherwise, 2 - 3 hours should be plenty of time to thoroughly tour the Shedd Aquarium.

SUMMARY

Here is a map of the Shedd Aquarium. You can see that it is divided between multiple levels:

Shedd Aquarium Map - Cropped.jpg

I have fond memories of the Shedd Aquarium. It could just be nostalgia talking but I remember it as if it was a 5 star attraction. However, upon my recent visit, I think 4 stars is the more appropriate rating, which puts it on par with the Georgia Aquarium:

5 stars:

Acquario di Genova (Genoa, Italy)
Monterey Bay Aquarium (Monterey, CA)

4 stars:

Shedd Aquarium (Chicago, IL)
Georgia Aquarium (Atlanta, GA)

3 stars:

Mote Aquarium (Sarasota, FL)

2 stars:

Steinhart Aquarium portion of California Academy of Sciences (San Francisco, CA)
Six Flags Discovery Kingdom (Vallejo, CA)
Audubon Aquarium (New Orleans, LA)

1 star:

Acquario Civico di Milano (Milan, Italy)

There is enough to see to occupy you for a few hours but I think it would be challenging to spend a full day there. Since the Shedd Aquarium is in the middle of their Centennial Commitment expansion, I may need to reevaluate things once their new exhibits have been completed.

When planning your visit, the two main time constraints are daily events (like free Animal Spotlights or free informational chats) and timed 4-D experiences. Check the calendar for daily events, plan your schedule around the events you want to attend, and arrive early since seating may be limited. If you are going to see any 4-D experiences, you need to stop by the ticketing office and book your times in advance. I would advise doing this as soon as you arrive at the aquarium.

The Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta has regular, timed live shows for both dolphins and sea lions. They are free but you need to reserve your time slot in advance. The Shedd Aquarium has periodic (every 60 - 90 minutes) animal spotlights which vary between dolphins, sea lions, and beluga whales. They are free and you just show up but you may want to show up early. You don't get wet in the Shedd Aquarium shows, whereas the front rows of the Georgia Aquarium dolphin show may get splashed. The Mote Aquarium and Audubon Aquarium do not have live animal shows.

The aquarium has multiple viewing levels to see the dolphins and otters. It also has penguins and beluga whales.

There are a variety of touch pools where you can interact with animals. You can touch sea stars at the Polar Play Zone, there is a seasonal stingray touch pool outside, and there is a sturgeon touch pool in the Great Lakes exhibit where you can touch a "living fossil."

4-D movie experiences simulate physical effects with motion, vibration, scent, rain, mist, bubbles, fog, smoke, wind, temperature changes, and strobe lights. For example, air may be blown at your face so you can feel the wind that the penguins have to endure. There may be a spray of water to simulate the ocean environment. And there is a rubber hose underneath the seat which flails as if it was an octopus tentacle. I thought the penguins movie was okay but the octopus movie was actually more interesting (even if penguins are cuter).

The Shedd Aquarium currently lacks a tunnel but they are in the process of building one.

Kids will probably enjoy the touch pools, the Polar Play Zone, the 4-D movies, and the live shows and chats.

DOLPHINS

The Shedd Aquarium has seven Pacific white-sided dolphins (Lagenorhynchus obliquidens) named Harmony, Kri, Katrl, Munchkin, Makoa, Loke and Elelo.

Here is a side pool. You can barely make out a dolphin tail splashing:

This is the Abbott Oceanarium where the live animal shows take place:

Here are pictures from the Shedd Aquarium dolphin show. You are allowed to take pictures (unlike the Georgia Aquarium where you are not supposed to take pictures during the shows).

Here is what you can see from the underwater viewing area:

OTTERS

The Shedd Aquarium currently has 6 sea otters. Five of them (Luna, Cooper, Watson, Suri and Willow) are southern sea otters (Enhydra lutris nereis) and one of them (Seldovia) is a northern sea otter (Enhydra lutris kenyoni).

There are two elevation levels you can view them at. I tried taking a bunch of pictures but I wasn't able to get very good views of the otters.

PENGUINS

The Shedd is home to two types of penguins - rockhopper penguins (Eudyptes chrysocome) and Magellanic penguins (Spheniscus magellanicus):

TURTLES

Alligator snapping turtle
Macrochelys temminckii

Fly River turtle / Pig-nosed turtle
Carettochelys insculpta

Other turtles:

WILD REEF

Right now during construction, the Wild Reef can only be accessed through a special elevator and so you may need to wait in line to enter. But it's worth the wait!

Tropical fish (including a Blue Tang, Paracanthurus hepatus) and corals:

Shark tank:

Potbelly seahorse
Hippocampus abdominalis

Engineer gobies
Pholidichthys Leucotaenia

Lobster:

Stingrays:

Lionfish:

Mangrove:

TOUCH POOLS

Stingray touch pool:

Sturgeon touch pool:

Sea star touch pool:

OTHER ODDS AND ENDS

Dwarf Caiman
Paleosuchus palpebrosus

Giant Pacific octopus
Enteroctopus dofleini

Weedy seadragon
Phyllopteryx taeniolatus

You may need to zoom in and look carefully to see them!

Rainbow shiners
Notropis chrosomus

Shark:

Red-bellied piranha
Pygocentrus nattereri

Longnose gar
Lepisosteus osseus

Australian Lungfish
Neoceratodus forsteri

Lake Sturgeon
Acipenser fulvescens

Moray eels:

Lampreys:

Sea anemones and starfish:

4-D EXPERIENCE

Before the movie, showing a short informational clip about Cruz, a blind sea lion.

LAKESIDE VIEWS

These are some views of Lake Michigan you can see from the Soundings Cafe and the Bubble Net Food Court:

Here is a view of the Shedd Aquarium and surrounding area from outside:

GIFT SHOP

Note that I am not compensated in any way for promoting any of these products. I just like to take note of cute things!

The Shedd Aquarium has a variety of cute merchandise, most of which are penguin, otter, or seal related. There are a few beluga whale items but I was surprised by the lack of dolphin paraphernalia!

It took me a few days to compose this blog post. When I first started writing it, the merchandise at the Shedd Aquarium shop had their regular prices (and so in some cases, the Muze Merch site had cheaper prices). But as I am preparing to publish this post, it looks like most items in the Shedd Aquarium shop are now at a 20% discount. I have no idea how long the sale will last but now's a great opportunity to pick up some cute items!

Eco Pink Penguin Plush
Eco Penguin Gray Plush
$20 on sale ($25 normally)
https://shop.sheddaquarium.org/eco-pink-penguin-plush
https://shop.sheddaquarium.org/eco-penguin-gray-plush

Eco Plush Stuffed Large Emperor Penguin Chick
Eco Rockhopper Penguin Plush
$20 on sale ($25 normally)
https://shop.sheddaquarium.org/eco-pals-stuffed-large-emperor-penguin-chick
https://shop.sheddaquarium.org/eco-rockhopper-penguin-plush