Science & Nature
Shedd Aquarium Announces $10M Donation for Continued Marine Conservation and Education
Beluga whales at Shedd Aquarium. (Brenna Hernandez / Shedd Aquarium)
Shedd Aquarium has announced a $10 million donation from Abbott, a global health care company founded in Chicago.
The donation is one of the largest to the aquarium in recent history, according to Shedd, and expands on previous gifts from Abbott and its philanthropic foundation, Abbott Fund. In acknowledgement of that prior support, Shedd named its marine mammal pavilion the Abbott Oceanarium in 2010.
The new gift will ensure funding for the oceanarium — home to species including beluga whales and Pacific white-sided dolphins — for the next 20 years “to support the ongoing education, preservation and protection of our environment, oceans and wildlife,” Abbott Chairman and CEO Robert B. Ford said in a statement.
For many visitors to the Shedd, the oceanarium is the closest they will come to many of these creatures, including penguins and rescued sea otters.
“Situated 800 miles away from the closest ocean, Shedd Aquarium serves as a portal to life beneath the water’s surface, bridging a widening gap between people and nature,” Bridget Coughlin, president and CEO of Shedd Aquarium, said in a statement.
Abbott’s gift, Coughlin said, "will help the aquarium reach, inspire and empower future generations to better understand and cherish our shared blue planet.”
Contact Patty Wetli: [email protected]
