The Shedd Aquarium in Chicago is offering a once-in-a-lifetime chance to experience feeding time for the institution’s sharks, stingrays, and other fish during the Shark Feeding Tour.
This behind-the-scenes interaction with the ocean’s most misunderstood creatures starts in the Shedd Aquarium’s Wild Reef exhibition, which brings you a diver’s-eye view to make you feel like you’re actually swimming with the fishes along a reef in the Philippines 8,000 miles away. Wild Reef is home to the aquarium’s collection of sharks, rays, corals, and reef fishes, cultivating a natural and colorful ecosystem that preserves the lives of these remarkable animals.
The Shedd Aquarium Feeding Tour brings you through the animal-care area next, where you’ll learn how each species is given meals prepared by experts, and how every animal responds to different “dinner bells” when it’s feeding time. This is where you’ll have an opportunity to feed the Shedd Aquarium sharks, guitarfish, and sawfish,
The shark tank at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago holds 400,000 gallons to maximize the habitat available to these large creatures. You’ll witness experts practice positive-reinforcement training with the sharks, as well as learn how the Shedd is working to save coral reefs around the world.
There are a few rules and restrictions before you head out on the Shedd Aquarium shark tour, and for good reason. Guests ages 10-17 must be accompanied by a participating adult, age 18 or older. A waiver must be signed by a parent or guardian for any participant 17 years or younger. You can experience the Shark Feeding Tour on Saturdays and Sundays at 9:45 a.m. for approximately 90 minutes. It’s strongly recommended that guests with shellfish and seafood allergies do not participate in this encounter.
Tickets start at $94.95 for adults and $79.95 for children ages 10-11. Members receive a discount at $49.95. Each tour is limited to 10 guests.
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Featured Image Credit: Shedd Aquarium