Virtual Sea Otter Encounter

Whether you call Chicago home or live across the world, we welcome you to join us during this 35–40 minute experience and virtually meet Luna, Ellie, Kiana, Cooper, Watson and/or Yaku up close and participate virtually in a session with our animal care team. You’ll go behind the scenes to watch how they can store food in "pockets" under their arms, see how these small animals with big appetites can eat 25% of their body weight in food a day and so much more!

From family time, to stay-at-home dates, to surprise gifts, hang out with the otters during this live experience from your home.

Each up-close visit will be unique, and we are not able to guarantee any specific sea otters during an experience. This 35–40 minute virtual encounter will take place on Zoom so you can enjoy the experience from your own home. All questions can be asked live through the chat function and responded to by our program host.

Highlights

• Go behind the scenes of the sea otter habitat virtually.
• Get up close and interact with a sea otter.
• Learn about the food prep it takes to feed a sea otter.

Make it Private

Reserve the entire encounter for a more intimate experience! With this option, you can make it a private encounter for you alone, you and a significant other, your family, or a small social group. Please contact [email protected].

Interested in a virtual experience for your company? Contact [email protected].

Entry

• The email address used to purchase the encounter will receive an email with a link to the Zoom Meeting no later than 30 minutes before your experience is scheduled to start.
• If you purchased the encounter as a gift for someone and the participant has a different email address than the one used to purchase the encounter, please email us at [email protected] or call 312-692-3355 at least 1 day prior to the day of your encounter.
• If you do not receive an email 30 minutes before your experience, please email us at [email protected] or call us at 312-692-3355.

Questions?

Email us at [email protected] or call 312-692-3355 with questions. We are unable to take reservations by email.

Refund policy

You may reschedule up to 5 days before your original reservation date. Please call 312-692-3355 (daily, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.) or email [email protected].

Attempting to reschedule in less than 5 days will result in forfeiture of the experience and no refund will be made, no exceptions.

If a participant needs to cancel the encounter and is unable to reschedule, no refund will be made.

In the event that Shedd Aquarium needs to reschedule the encounter, the participant will be notified by email 24 hours before the encounter. Every effort will be made to reschedule the experience. If an alternate date and time is not possible, a full refund will be made to the purchaser.

Due to the nature of animals, Shedd Aquarium holds the right to reschedule the program to protect the safety and health of the animals.