Plan a Visit

• Unavailable areas: The Aquatic Presentation and several high-touch play areas will not be available. Visit our frequently asked questions for more details.
• Touch experiences: Stingray Touch has closed for the season. Sea Star Touch and Sturgeon Touch are view-only to allow for social distancing.
• Exhibit experiences: We've adjusted our fish IDs to automatically scroll so they don't need to be touched in order to convey information.
• Water fountains: For your safety, water fountains will not be available. Guests may purchase water or use a bottle refilling station.
• Cash or credit? If you are looking to make a purchase, bring a credit card if possible. Cash sales will be limited to reduce close contact between staff and guests.
• Accessibility changes: Wheelchairs, assistive listening devices, and noise-cancelling headphones will be available on a first come, first-served basis and will be sanitized between each use. Details on Shedd’s accessibility offerings.
• Restaurants: Bubble Net food court will be open with limited capacity Fridays - Sundays, from 10:30 a.m. until 2 hours before the building closes. Any food or drink you bring with you or purchase from machines must be consumed in designated areas. Capacity is limited and tables are spaced in accordance with Chicago regulations. Please do not move tables or chairs.
• Re-entry: Unfortunately, due to the new flow of the aquarium, we won't be able to let people back into Shedd once they exit the building.
  

Before your visit

• We established employee wellness checks before shifts and guest guidance for entering. 
  
• We limited the hourly capacity in the building to provide plenty of space for guests to comfortably explore. 
• We implemented timed entry to keep an even flow of guests throughout the day. 
• Guests will now choose an available entry time when purchasing tickets online. Please purchase tickets in advance as walk-up ticket sales on-site are not available. 
• We have installed physical barriers for interactions like ticket purchasing, where social distancing might not be possible.

Enhanced daytime cleanings and nightly deep cleanings

• All touch points and hard surfaces throughout the aquarium are disinfected, not just the frequently touched surfaces. 
• When you walk around the aquarium, you will see our “Sanitation Squad” at work. This is a newly implemented group that wipes down areas where they are stationed and joins forces to focus on railings, reading rails, elevator interiors, seating areas, exhibits, counter tops, interactive screens, etc.
• A specialized custodial team wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) cleans the aquarium overnight. The team uses electrostatic sprayers, misters and vacuum equipment with high-efficiency particular air (HEPA) filters to make sure hard to reach surfaces are not missed. Not all of this equipment will visible to guests as it’s used after-hours.
• The disinfectants we use are on the EPA N list of approved disinfectants for use against SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 and are in widespread use by the healthcare industry.

Building ventilation and air flow

• Shedd Aquarium is operating under ASHRAE COVID-19 Building Readiness/Reopening Guidance dated May 7, 2020.
• All of our air handlers are running 24-hours, 7-days a week.
• Each day 2 hours before we open and 2 hours after we close, we perform a flushing of the building. This includes operating the exhaust fans as well as opening the outside air dampers to 100%.
• We have increased our pre-filter change out schedule and changed our final filters to MERV 14. 
• The interiors of our air handlers and air conditioning coils have been disinfected prior to our reopening and will be a part of scheduled preventive maintenance of the aquarium.

Who needs to wear a mask?

Masks are required for all visitors over the age of 2.

Recommended masks

• Non-medical disposable masks
• Masks that fit properly (snugly around the nose and chin with no large gaps around the sides of the face)
• Masks made with breathable fabric (such as cotton)
• Masks made with tightly woven fabric (i.e., fabrics that do not let light pass through when held up to a light source)
• Masks with two or three layers and with inner filter pockets

Masks not recommended

• Masks that do not fit properly (large gaps, too loose or too tight)
  
• Masks made from materials that are hard to breathe through (such as plastic or leather)
• Masks made from loosely woven fabric or that are knitted, i.e., fabrics that let light pass through
• Masks with one layer
• Masks with exhalation valves or vents
• Wearing a scarf/ski mask as a mask