“We knew the Shedd would do a good job keeping us safe,” Julie Chan said. “It’s nice not to feel so elbow-to-elbow,” he said. His family were museum members and had visited a number of times before, including in summers this was their first Phase 4 outing to an indoor attraction. Asked what brought them to the Shedd on the first morning it opened, Andy Chan laughed through his mask. If you still want absolute solitude, go look at the river fish. “You could backtrack but really nobody ever did,” she said.Īndy and Julie Chan of Northfield found a quiet spot with their young children by the rivers exhibit. But that’s not as out-of-place as it seems, Coughlin said, the Wild Reef exhibit has always effectively been one way, with the elevator guiding where guests enter. Staff members carried large signs, crossing-guard style, only with the message “Ask Me.” Every individual hall and exhibit was marked with a linear, one-way path with an entrance and exit. More than a dozen visitors gathered close to the otter tank, a zig-zag of ribbon showed visitors how to wait for the Wild Reef elevators and some narrow hallways were at rare moments a bit like supermarket aisles. Indeed, reduced capacity did not mean empty, even with the Shedd’s 276,000 square feet of public space. (Sea Star Touch and Sturgeon Touch are viewing-only.) On Friday, after a couple hourly-admission groups had been let in, it was one of the Shedd exhibits to draw a crowd, relatively speaking, with several dozen visitors lining the long tank and a half-dozen groups and families waiting in socially-distanced line. Outside in a tent on the aquarium’s south patio, Stingray Touch is open, weather permitting, with guests asked to wash hands before and after. Friday, we’re told, was Annik’s first birthday. That was Mauyak with young Annik, still a darker gray. Dolphins and Beluga whales glided by just under the surface, one in a tight pair, a calf with its mother. On Friday, it seemed a bit like overkill with just a few families clustered up by the water’s edge. Walking paths in the sunlit space were tightly controlled, with stanchions marking Enter Here and Exit Only, with every other row of seats blocked off and dolphin decals on the stone benches showing visitors how to social-distance. The Abbott Oceanarium, where the Shedd previously held its dolphin and aquatics shows, was still open but without the shows. The Shedd will operate at 25% capacity, with timed entries capped at 375 people an hour previous capacity was 12,000 visitors a day, or about 3,000 at any one time.Įarly Friday, that meant open hallways, a murmur of voices and a chance to see the sharks in the Wild Reef exhibit without looking through handprints on the glass. Discover the deep, cold waters in the Ocean gallery get to know the loans in At Home on the Great Lakes, hop through Islands and Lakes to meet a Bahamian iguana and American alligators, and meet the bizarre and beautiful creature of the world’s Rivers.“If you’ve been here before, especially in July, you’re going to notice the difference,” said Shedd president and CEO Bridget Coughlin in an interview earlier this week. Also, make a special journey to see the penguins, who have their own special habitat within the Oceanarium. Take a walk through a lush temperate rainforest, and head to the coastline, where you’ll discover the surprisingly diverse habitats in the cold waters along the ocean coast. Visit the Pacific Northwest and get up-close with whales, dolphins, sea otters, sea lions, and more. Housed in its own underground wing, get a diver’s-eye view of 540 species of aquatic life - sharks, stingrays, eels, and the largest public display of live corals in the Midwest, included. Watch out for anacondas and piranhas, spiders, rays, and crocodiles! Check out the colorful corals and sponges, and if your timing is right, catch divers feeding the animals and talking to guests through underwater microphones. Watch over 70 species - including sea turtles, sharks, and stingrays - glide through the circular tank. Here, you’ll not only find 32,600 of species of sea life, but one-of-a-kind experiences, such as shark feedings, penguin encounters, and even the chance to be a “Trainer for a Day.” Permanent exhibits to exploreĪ 90,000-gallon tank gives you a 360-degree tour of an underwater reef community. Shedd Aquarium combines the best of early 20th-century aquariums - a diverse, global animal collection surrounded by mouth-dropping architecture, and a commitment to 21st-century advances in animal care, environments, and interpretation.
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