Chicago, Illinois

Our Looper friends, Tracy and George, invite us to join them for a visit to the Shedd Aquarium. This highly ranked aquarium holds about 32,000 fish and animals and is the third largest aquarium in the Western Hemisphere, after the Georgia Aquarium and Monterey Bay Aquarium.

At one time it was the largest indoor facility in the world. It is the first inland aquarium with a permanent saltwater fish collection.  The aquarium contains 1,500 species, including fish, marine mammals, birds, snakes, amphibians, and insects. In 1987, Shedd Aquarium was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

In 1971, Shedd Aquarium added one of its most popular exhibits, a 90,000-US-gallon (340,000 L) exhibit reproducing a Caribbean coral reef. That same year, the aquarium acquired its first research vessel, a 75-foot (23 m) boat for exploring the Caribbean, manned by a crew to conduct field research and collect specimens.

In 1985, this boat was replaced with the aquarium’s current vessel, the Coral Reef II. The Coral Reef II is indispensable to the aquarium’s conservation research and education programs. The 80-foot custom-built boat serves as a mobile basecamp and laboratory for field researchers and is the jumping-off point to Caribbean reefs for budding college and high school marine biologists.

We enter the aquarium, visit the gift shop, and immediately see several exhibit rooms from different global regions – Waters of the World; Amazon Rising; and Wild Reef.

Waters of the World Exhibit

The oldest galleries in the aquarium feature exhibits on oceans, rivers, islands and lakes, and Chicago’s own local waters. Species on exhibit include American bullfrog, a giant Pacific octopus, American alligator, lake sturgeon, starfish, lined seahorses, and alligator snapping turtle. 

The Octopus

The octopus is intriguing to me. The aquarium guide tells us he is nicknamed “Houdini.” The octopus is very intelligent and capable of escaping the aquarium tank! They place food in a closed jar, and the octopus can unscrew the lid with his arms.

An octopus has eight appendages, each of which has rows of suckers running its length. But these are not tentacles — in strict anatomical terms, they are arms. A tentacle has suckers only on its pad-shaped ending. Squid and cuttlefish have arms, but also tentacles.

Here is a list of the ten most intelligent animals, recently updated in 2023. Octopus comes in sixth.

1. Orangutan
2. Bottlenose dolphin
3. Chimpanzee
4. Elephant
5. African Grey Parrot
6. Octopus
7. Pig
8. Crow
9. Pigeon
10. Rat

This list surprises me!

The Sturgeon Touch Pool

You can interact with a living fossil at the sturgeon touch pool in the Home on the Great Lakes exhibit. These bottom-dwelling lake fish have survived for more than 200 million years, outliving the dinosaurs!

This hands-on encounter allows you to learn about this cartilaginous fish, and how we can protect the sturgeon’s home—The Great Lakes.

Tracy and I decide to try it. After washing our hands and rolling up our sleeves, we plunge our hands into the water, feeling the leathery texture of the sturgeon’s skin and the hard bony plates that encase their bodies.

Amazon Rising

The Amazon Rising exhibit is an 8,600-square-foot (800 m²) walkthrough flooded forest recreation of the Amazon River and the surrounding jungle This exhibit contains 250 different species, and its highest water level is 6 feet (1.8 m).

Species from this area on exhibit include a green anaconda, red-bellied piranhas, electric eels, freshwater eels, freshwater stingrays, dwarf caimans, Calman lizards, river turtles, red-footed and yellow-footed tortoises, Mata Matas, Arapaima, and different species of South American birds, fish, and frogs. 

Wild Reef Exhibit

In 2003, Shedd opened Wild Reef, a permanent exhibit located two levels below the main building. The exhibit contains a total of 525,000 US gallons (1,990,000 L) and recreates a Philippine coral reef on the Apo Island marine reserve, complete with living coral, multiple species of fish and rays, and a collection of sharks, such as sandbar, zebra, blacktip reef sharks, white-spotted guitarfish, Spotted wobbegongs, and Japanese wobbegongs. 

The main draw of this attraction is a 400,000-US-gallon (1,500,000 L) shark tank with 12-foot (3.7 m) high curved windows, allowing visitors a diver’s-eye view. The Wild Reef exhibit also features a saltwater tank display area where coral is propagated and grown for conservation purposes.

The shark exhibit is very popular. A lot of people snap their photo with the sharks.

Oceanarium

In 1991, Shedd Aquarium opened the Abbott Oceanarium, a large addition to the aquarium that features marine mammals, including Pacific white-sided dophins, beluga whites, sea otters and California sea lions. Next to the sea lions is an open estuary tank for several cuttlefish.

By the sea otter exhibit is a large natural looking touch tank for tide pool creatures like crabs, sea cucumbers and sea anemones. The lower level of the Oceanarium allows underwater viewing of the beluga whales and the dolphins.The beluga whale is an Arctic and sub-Arctic cetacean, white in color, and often called “white whales.”

The Oceanarium is the largest indoor marine mammal facility in the world.  It holds 3 million US gallons (11,000,000 L) in total; the largest single tank is the 2-million-US-gallon (7,600,000 L) “Whale Harbour”.

The Oceanarium also houses a 1,000-seat amphitheater which presents an educational marine mammal show. Dolphins and the white whales perform, similar to the shows seen at Sea World. We are disappointed we will miss the last show of the day, as it is the same time we are scheduled to view a 4D presentation. Next time!

Sea Lions

Three of Shedd’s five sea lions are rescues, but each came to the aquarium in a different way. Cruz was a pup when he was found blinded in both eyes on the California coast. Even though he is blind, his trainer at the Aquarium takes special care of him and he is able to fend for himself – and even do some tricks.

Laguna was found stranded and starving on California beaches—not once, but twice! Culling can be the next step, but government wildlife agencies and the marine mammal community collaborated to find him a home at Shedd.

Tanner was also rescued after he was seen eating endangered salmon at the Bonneville Dam. Tanner became dangerously overweight. He was moved from the Dam – but he always made his way back there! He just loved to eat the salmon.

4D Theater

The 4D Theater opened in 2009 as part of the renovation of the Abbott Oceanarium. The 4D experience includes a 4D film with interactive seats, high-tech audio and interactive elements like scents and bubbles.

Via video, you can meet an octopus, dive with sharks, or learn about nature’s most devoted parents — penguins. Your chair vibrates, the air moves, lights flash and other surprises await.  

We purchase tickets for the shark video presentation – BBC Earth’ s Shark: a 4D Experience.

Stingray Touch

Our final aquarium activity for the day is the “Stingray Touch.” Located on the aquarium’s South Terrace, this exhibit allows guests to touch cownose rays as they swim around their 20,000 US gallons (76,000 L.)

This outdoor exhibit is open seasonally from May through October. Each of us place our hands into the water to touch at least one stingray. Captain Pat has the magic touch. The stingrays follow him around as he walks the perimeter of the pool.

Aquarium “Encounters”

This was a super fun day. I can see why this aquarium is highly ranked. The Aquarium offers several “encounters” you can pay extra for. There you can meet the penguins, sea otters, beluga whales, sea lions, sharks, dolphins and more.

Thank you, Tracy and George, for inviting us! We highly recommend a visit to this Aquarium.