CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — The Shedd Aquarium sent 2023 off in style on Monday, when the aquarium released its 12 best animal photos of the year.
The gallery includes some of the aquarium's newest residents, including a rockhopper penguin chick and a sea otter pup.
Not surprisingly, the photos also show a beluga whale, turtles and all sorts of colorful fish who have wowed Chicagoans for decades. See the full collection below.
A large, silvery-yellow batfish swims through the Shedd's Wild Reef exhibit. In the wild, these fish are found in the Indo-Pacific Ocean in shallow, protected coastal waters.Shedd Aquarium/Brenna Hernandez
Brook trout, shown here in the Shedd's At Home in the Great Lakes exhibit. Brook trout are native to Illinois and are the Great Lakes' only native stream-dwelling trout.Shedd Aquarium/Brenna Hernandez
Beluga whale Beethoven, shown here, is the oldest adult male in the aquarium. At 14 feet and 1,800 pounds, Beethoven is the second largest beluga whale at the Shedd.Shedd Aquarium/Brenna Hernandez
From left: Rockhopper penguins Edward, Annie and Isla can be found in the Shedd's Polar Play Zone exhibit. Isla was the aquarium's first rockhopper chick in eight years.Shedd Aquarium/Brenna Hernandez
A Queensland group, the world's largest reef-dwelling bony fish, with a golden trevally school swimming alongside it in the Shedd's Wild Reef exhibit.Shedd Aquarium/Brenna Hernandez
A white sucker swims along the bottom of the At Home in the Great Lakes exhibit. Every spring, suckers migrate from the Great Lakes to their spawning streams.Shedd Aquarium/Brenna Hernandez
Kenney, a California sea lion, was the Shedd's youngest sea lion ever when he arrived in August 2022 as a 3-month-old pup. Adult males, also called bulls, can grow up to more than 1,000 pounds and 8 feet long.Shedd Aquarium/Brenna Hernandez
A staghorn hermit crab makes a home in coral inside of the Shedd's Wild Reef exhibit. A coral's stinging cells offer the hermit protection, and in return, the coral gets to move around and filter feed on plankton as the crab forages for its own food.Shedd Aquarium/Brenna Hernandez
A bowmouth guitarfish uses its spotted, grayish-brown body to camouflage in sandy, muddy environments near the ocean floor. Three guitarfish pups moved into the Shedd's Wild Reef exhibit in 2023.Shedd Aquarium/Brenna Hernandez
Water-dwelling creatures aren't the only ones that call the Shedd Aquarium home. In the Shedd's gardens, photographer Brenna Hernandez captured this monarch butterfly. Its iconic orange and black markings make it one of the most recognizable species in North America.Shedd Aquarium/Brenna Hernandez
This ringed map turtle, with its characteristic yellow stripe across the lower jaw, resides in the Shedd's Rivers and Lakes exhibit. A freshwater turtle, males can grow up to 10 centimeters while females can grow as long as 18 centimeters.Shedd Aquarium/Brenna Hernandez
This male northern sea otter pup arrived at the Shedd Aquarium in December 2023. He was rescued in Alaska and will remain behind the scenes for a few months as he reaches development milestones, Shedd officials said.Shedd Aquarium/Brenna Hernandez
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