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Raise Your Voice

Sea otters in Seward, Alaska float among boats in a harbor, socializing.

Aquatic animals use grunts, croaks, clicks and snaps to communicate. At Shedd, we raise our voices, mobilize our communities and encourage policy makers to protect our precious aquatic wildlife and their habitats.

Amplifying awareness and igniting action 

At Shedd, we believe that wildlife and wild places are worth protecting and saving. We work each day to create effective, lasting change for aquatic wildlife and their habitats that reaches far beyond our aquarium walls.

Our team harnesses the collective power of voices to inspire communities and individuals to act with us while encouraging decision makers to advance innovative policies that ensure healthy and vibrant oceans and local waters for the future.

An Illinois leader at a microbeads plastic event signs a pledge to reduce his use of single-waste plastics.
A visitor to Shedd's pop-up Shedd the Straw promotion on World Oceans Day at Chicago's Navy Pier add her pledge to a large chalk board.

How you can help 

Our advocacy work is science-driven, solution-focused and relationship-rooted. Raise your voice by signing one of our active petitions and send a clear signal to policymakers that you will #ActWithShedd to protect aquatic wildlife and their habitats.

Be notified of future petitions

Plastic bottles washed up on a rocky beach in the Bahamas are coated in a fine layer of salt but show no sign of degrading.

Prevent plastic pollution

We support policies that reduce plastic pollution in our local waters. We advance public policies that reduce the use and purchase of single-use plastic at the government, business and consumer levels; promote innovative and sustainable solutions to plastic packaging and single-use items; and promote zero-waste strategies for both governments and communities.

Scuba diver documenting the collapse of a Nassau grouper spawning aggregation in The Bahamas.

Protect ecosystems

Our team of policy experts works closely with scientists and policymakers across the country to protect our oceans and waterways from threats such as pollution, overfishing and invasive species. We are working to protect and restore the health of marine protected areas, monuments, sanctuaries and our coral reefs. In the Great Lakes, we are working to protect and restore the health of wetlands, reducing nutrient pollution and advancing sustainable solutions including green infrastructure and smart energy solutions.

Rainbow trout have a long, stocky bodies and can grow to lengths of 6 to 16 inches.

Support sustainable fisheries

Through our field research program and international collaborations, we advance strong science-based fisheries management and sustainability recommendations, including policies to establish ecosystem-based management approaches that will help depleted fish populations recover and end illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.