After Closing Down, This Aquarium Lets Its Penguins Go on a ‘Field Trip’

(TMU) — As the gravity and scale of the CoViD-19 pandemic sinks in, people across the world are being advised to self-isolate while governments close borders and emergency laws are put in place to limit travel and the number of people allowed to gather. Across the world, sporting events have been cancelled and restaurants, clubs, theaters, and other facilities are closing their doors to the public in an effort to limit the spread of the virus.

Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium is no exception. With around 2 million visitors to the aquarium each year, the facility has closed its doors to the public for two weeks to help protect the community.

A notice on their website reads: “In the best interest of overall wellness for our community and for each other, Shedd Aquarium is temporarily closed to the public for two weeks through Sunday, March 29. During this period, all scheduled events and programs will be cancelled but may be rescheduled to a later date.”

Although the facility is now closed to human visitors, the aquarium, for the first time ever, had local penguin residents enjoy a walkabout that saw them exploring the facility. The event was captured on film, much to the delight of isolated humans.

The Shedd Aquarium, like many places that have been closed to visitors, is making an effort to engage with fans through various social media platform and the penguin tour was a definite hit!

Fans just loved the delightful penguins strutting their stuff around the Amazon Rising exhibit while they went about meeting fish and other animals. With over 100k likes on Twitter, the aquarium promised more video updates.

“While this may be a strange time for us, these days feel normal for animals at Shedd. Our caregivers are constantly providing new experiences for the animals to explore and express their natural behaviors with,” the aquarium wrote.

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced last Friday that all public gatherings of 1,000 people or more were to be banned. For this reason, many venues and facilities had to close their doors.

Check out the Shedd Aquarium on Twitter, Instagram, and their website for more info.

By Jade Small | Creative Commons | TheMindUnleashed.com