Press Releases

Chicago Celebrities Help Kids Get Curious in Shedd Aquarium's New Kids' Video Series

Several Chicago area celebrities make guest appearances in “Sea Curious,” the brand new video series from Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium—out now! Designed by kids for kids, each episode of “Sea Curious” answers a question about anima...

Bank of America Chicago Marathon and Shedd Aquarium Team Up to Make Strides in Reducing Single-Use Plastics

The Bank of America Chicago Marathon is partnering with Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium to take on the issue of reducing single-use plastic pollution by joining the aquarium’s Shedd the Straw initiative for the 2018 Chicago Marathon o...

Shedd Aquarium Beluga Whale is Pregnant

Shedd Aquarium announced today that one of their marine mammals is expecting. Mauyak (MY-ak), a 37-year-old beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas) is pregnant and expected to give birth in summer 2019.“Mauyak is progressing beaut...

Shedd Aquarium Joins Local Effort to Benefit Endangered Blanding's Turtles

Shedd Aquarium welcomed 24 Blanding’s turtle hatchlings (Emydoidea blandingii) to The A. Watson Armour III Center for Aquatic Animal Health and Welfare as part of a new partnership with Forest Preserve District of DuPage County.

Shedd Aquarium Accessibility & Inclusion Efforts Recognized with National Award

The Kennedy Center Leadership Exchange in Arts and Disability (LEAD®), a nationally-recognized network focused on accessibility services has awarded Shedd Aquarium with the Community Asset Award for its “All Are Welcome: Access...

Loews Chicago Hotel is First Hotel to Go Straw-Free in Partnership with Shedd Aquarium

Loews Chicago Hotel joins Shedd Aquarium's "Shedd The Straw" initiative to reduce the use of single-use plastic straws throughout the hotel. Loews Chicago Hotel is the first hotel to join the initiative aimed at reducing single...

Shedd Aquarium Wants You to Look Nature in the Eye This Summer with New Outdoor Aquatic Experiences

Shedd Aquarium is taking learning and exploration outside of the aquarium walls this summer with new, outdoor aquatic experiences designed to spark curiosity for local waters and wildlife by bringing people closer to them.

Shedd Aquarium Brings 'Underwater Beauty' to the Surface in New Special Exhibit Opening Memorial Day Weekend

From boldly-colored fish and glowing coral to dreamlike patterns of wrasses and tangs, Shedd Aquarium’s new special exhibit, Underwater Beauty, aims to bring guests closer to the stunning and surprising spectrum of shapes, size...

GATX Executive Brian A. Kenney Elected Shedd Aquarium Board Chairman

Shedd Aquarium’s Board of Trustees today elected Brian A. Kenney the organization’s new Chairman of the Board at its annual meeting. Kenney is chairman, president and chief executive officer of Chicago-based GATX Corporation an...

Meet Shedd Aquarium's Newest Magellanic Penguin Chick

Shedd Aquarium, a leader in animal care, welcomes a new Magellanic penguin chick (Spheniscus magellanicus), hatched on Saturday, May 12 following penguin breeding season in late March. This is the first penguin chick born at th...

Shedd Vet Shares Update From Madagascar Tortoise Triage Effort

This week, a veterinarian from Shedd Aquarium’s Animal Response Team flew to Madagascar to provide on-site medical care and relocation assistance for nearly 10,000 critically endangered radiated tortoises. The tortoises were di...

Sign of Spring: Shedd Aquarium Welcomes Six Wood Ducklings

Spring is in the air at Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium, which just welcomed six fuzzy wood ducklings into the world. Wood ducks are a species native to the Great Lakes region and beyond, and the arrival of ducklings is a common symbo...

Chicago White Sox Make Guaranteed Rate Field Straw-Free for the Season

The Chicago White Sox, along with concessionaire partners, Delaware North Sportservice, Gibson’s ChiSox Bar & Grill and Levy, are joining Shedd Aquarium’s “Shedd The Straw” initiative to reduce the use of single-use plastic str...

Shedd Aquarium Names Gary Gordon Chief Financial Officer

Shedd Aquarium announced today that Gary Gordon, a finance executive with over 20 years of financial and administrative experience across multiple government sectors, will join its executive team as chief financial officer Apri...

New Book Explores Zoos', Aquariums' Evolving Role in Tackling Global Biodiversity Crisis

As scores of wild species and ecosystems around the world face a variety of human-caused threats, from habitat destruction and fragmentation to rapid climate change, a new book published by the University of Chicago Press illum...

Underwater Beauty: A New Special Exhibit Coming to Shedd Aquarium

This May, Shedd Aquarium will celebrate the diverse and vibrant beauty of marine life through the opening of its latest special exhibit –Underwater Beauty. Featuring thousands of animals representing 100 species, Underwater Bea...

New Research at Shedd Aquarium Studies Impacts of Touch Pool Exhibits on Animal Health

Cownose rays (Rhinoptera bonasus) are commonly displayed in touch pool exhibits at accredited zoos and aquariums across the country, but there has been little research to explore how these practices might affect the health of t...

Snow Day at Shedd Aquarium

Shedd Aquarium’s rescued sea otters received special enrichment when animal care experts brought fresh snow into their habitat. With the densest fur in the animal kingdom, the otters took no time striding and sliding into the s...

Chicago Zoological Society Takes Lead on Multi-Institutional Cetacean Study

The Chicago Zoological Society (CZS), which manages Brookfield Zoo, is taking the lead in the largest-ever, multi-institutional study of how physical habitat, environmental enrichment, and animal training impact the welfare of ...

Illinois Environmental Leaders Resolve to Reduce Great Lakes Plastic Pollution in 2018

Local elected officials, alongside leaders from Shedd Aquarium, Alliance for the Great Lakes and Illinois Environmental Council (IEC), announced a joint resolution to take on the nationwide fight against plastic pollution in lo...

Local Schools Win Shedd Aquarium's Wreath-Cycled Challenge

More than 120 hand-crafted wreaths made by Chicagoland school children decked the halls of Shedd Aquarium this holiday season as part of an educational program called the Wreath-Cycled Classroom Challenge, hosted by the aquariu...

Four Rockhopper Penguins at Shedd Aquarium Celebrate Unprecedented 30th Birthdays

Four rockhopper penguins (Eudyptes chrysocome) at Shedd Aquarium are celebrating the big 3-0! The birds, fondly named Drake, Magdalena, Pebbles and Wellington, are the first penguins to turn 30 at the aquarium, making them the ...

Asian Carp Expert Joins Shedd Aquarium Research Team

A new staff addition at Shedd Aquarium will help expand the aquarium’s research on freshwater species and waterways. Andrew Casper, Ph.D. joins Shedd’s Daniel P. Haerther Center for Conservation and Research (Haerther Center) a...

New Study Documents Behavioral Patterns of Threatened Lake Sturgeon

A newly published study of a threatened population of lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens) revealed behavior patterns that could inform conservation policies to further protect the species.

Chicago Teens Participate in Global Research Project to Help Save Sharks

Shedd Aquarium is teaming up with an international research project called Global FinPrint, a Paul G. Allen initiative, to engage Chicagoland teens with a hands-on STEM application through citizen science. The research project ...

Animal Response Team Flies Cross-Country to Alaska to Care for Stranded Sea Otter Pup

While Shedd guests and staff celebrate Sea Otter Awareness Week here in Chicago, a sea otter expert from the aquarium is up in Alaska working around-the-clock to care for an abandoned sea otter pup.

Photo: Activities in pictures are authorized by USFWS COA/MA 73418B

Shedd Aquarium Elects Four Senior Executives to Board of Trustees

Shedd Aquarium, Chicago’s most visited paid cultural attraction and a national leader in animal care, conservation education and research, announces the election of four senior executives from leading local companies to its Boa...

A Turtle-ly Awesome Look at Animal Health Check-Ups

Before making his public debut, Dante, a 13-year-old alligator snapping turtle (Macroclemys temminckii), needed to check in with the veterinary team at Shedd Aquarium. Experts took extra caution with this reptile, weighing in a...

Shedd Aquarium Researchers Document Extreme Recovery Capabilities of Shark Species

Shedd Aquarium researchers and colleagues published a research study this month in the scientific journal Marine & Freshwater Research that documented the unique recovery capabilities sharks possess using the case study of a wi...

Shedd Aquarium Welcomes New Scientist to Conservation Research Team

Shedd Aquarium is excited to welcome Steven Kessel, Ph.D. as the newest addition to the Daniel P. Haerther Center for Conservation and Research.