Open 9 am - 6 pm
There will be traffic and other impacts on and around Museum Campus due to the NASCAR Chicago Street Race. Please plan your visit accordingly.
Pacific white-sided dolphin frolic in the Abbott Oceanarium.

Pacific White-Sided Dolphin

These athletic dolphins zip through waters on both sides of the North Pacific Ocean at speeds of up to 25 mph!

A pacific white-sided dolphin is tested in the Abbott Oceanarium for Shedd's Microbiome Project.

Learning from Care

A blowhole biome? Shedd’s Microbiome Project researches the microscopic life that shares space with every animal, including our Pacific white-sided dolphins. A study found that dolphin’s blowholes in aquariums and in the wild have a unique microbial signature, including many species previously unknown to science!

Voluntary animal health studies like these build our knowledge about the animals in our care—and give us tools to better understand wild populations as well.

It's playtime for our Pacific white-sided dolphins! Buoys are one of several toys our dolphins engage with—they can tug them, pull them underwater, or push them around.

“It’s hard to monitor and track them in the wild, so pretty much everything we know about young Pacific white-sided dolphins growing up we’ve learned in aquariums and zoos.”

Maris Muzzy, Manager - Oceanarium Team

Meet the Dolphins

Who's who in the dolphin pod at Shedd? Meet them all, from youngster Harmony to 280-pound Katrl! Shedd is one of only three U.S. aquariums where you can see this exceptionally acrobatic species.

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Makoa

Kri

Katrl

Munchkin

Harmony