'I Take Penguins Out on Field Trips Around Chicago—Here's Why'

I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and I had wanted to work with sea life since I was a little kid. I didn't always have my eyes on the penguins and sea otters I work with now though, back then it was all about whales and dolphins. But after college I came back to Chicago and thanks to an ex-boyfriend, happened to find out about an aquarium internship in the city.

After participating in that internship at Shedd Aquarium (a great first step, because you're also able to see the non-glamorous parts, like cleaning and food prep!) I became a volunteer there. Then, a couple of years later I was lucky enough to get a full-time position taking care of an orphaned sea otter pup, called Kiana. She's now 15 and I have worked with her here since she was a pup.

Currently, I'm overseeing 42 animals; six otters and 36 penguins as the supervisor of our penguin and sea otter area and in the past couple of years we've had a few penguin chicks and seen our colony grow. The penguins and the sea otters are all individuals with their own personalities. We tend to hang out with the penguins in a more physically direct way, but that's really just because we're able to go and sit on an exhibit and have more of a tactile relationship with them. We're working up to that with the sea otters, but we try to find activities that get the otters mentally stimulated, whether that's a cool enrichment puzzle for them to work at or access to different habitats.

Unfortunately, we had to close the aquarium back in March because of the pandemic, but we were still giving the animals the same care and schedule. Before we closed we'd often take the penguins to our underwater viewing gallery or take them up into our office, so they were used to moving around.

It's hard to determine how much the animals notice what's happening, but the penguins are used to having guests in front of them through the windows. We realized that without people around, we had so many areas of the aquarium—like those with other animals—we could now take them to see. On one of those occasions, we took one of the older rockhopper penguins, Wellington, to see our amazon rising exhibit and shared a video of him there—it became really popular.

So, we began to document other times we were taking the penguins to new places around the aquarium and it was really so fun. You can watch as a penguin is tracking something happening with their eyes—like them seeing a school of fish darting to one side as a penguin approaches their tank. It's a great way to give them that variety and it's great exercise walking around the aquarium. Overall, it's really good for their welfare and levels of mental stimulation—it's all positive.

Different penguins have paid attention to different areas, but I personally love taking them up to our wild reef exhibit. It's a floor to ceiling exhibit, so they have nothing to do but see all the other life around them. It's interesting to see what they actually focus on. Whether that's a large shark swimming by or a brightly colored fish, you can see that they notice.

Our penguins had been out on excursions before for charity events and to a children's hospital but in summer this year we began to expand and take them on field trips to areas outside the aquarium. It was definitely taken into consideration that these field trip adventures could be really mentally stimulating for them, and though I don't know exactly how penguins think, it looked like they were really curious about what they were seeing.

So far they have been to the Field Museum in Chicago, the Museum Of Contemporary Art Chicago, to a 4-D cinema and on November 23, we took them to Soldier Field, the Chicago Bears stadium, which is luckily just across the street from Shedd. They seemed curious about everything, but it was particularly amazing for me to see them view the art work.

As well as showing the penguins new environments, our plan was also to showcase different areas in Chicago and bring a smile to people's faces during the pandemic, which is such a difficult time for many. A penguin waddling around does typically bring a smile to people's faces.

I didn't actually attend the Soldier Field trip because we like to share the love around the team and allow different staff to attend the penguin field trips, but it tickles me watching the footage of them running on the turf and looking around. We sometimes take a penguin and their mate, which encourages them to explore together. So, we have had little pairs; I have taken Izzy and Darwin, two magellanic penguins, on several excursions and two others, Tommo and Charlotte, went on that particular trip to Soldier Field.

Usually we take a handful of penguins on each trip but it's really up to them. If particular penguins are readily wanting to follow us or come to our feeds and hang out with us we think they might be a good candidate for a field trip, but if they prefer hanging out on the exhibits, that's OK too.

None of the penguins are potty trained so on field trips we are cleaning up after them and apologising to people pretty regularly. But when they're outside of their normal realm they're generally pretty quiet, taking it all in. They're 36 individuals for sure; they all have their own traits and quirks.

We happen to have taken more of our magellanic penguins on the field trips, but we do take rockhoppers like Wellington. When we take rockhoppers we typically take them in pairs, but we do have one youngster called Diego who just holds his own. He'll walk and parade with a group of magellanic penguins and just looks so independent and confident. We love watching him lead the way on these field trips.

Though it's obviously difficult to gauge in any definitive way, when penguins have gone on these field trips it definitely seems to increase their comfort level with new activities. The next time they go somewhere unfamiliar, they check it out more readily. We feel that the variety of the excursions is good and it changes the social dynamics for the day.

After the first closure, we reopened in July, but just a few weeks ago we closed again to be on the safe side and do our part for our community here in Chicago. We're tentatively looking at a January opening but in the meantime, Wellington and two other rockhopper penguins here, Drake and Magdelena, are all turning 33 in December, so we're hoping to celebrate in some way. We might share a Facebook live, but our staff will definitely go and sing to them. We're really excited for them because 33 is a big milestone for rockhopper penguins—their life expectancy is typically 10-15 years in the wild.

We also hang stockings for each of our penguins with their names on each Christmas, and that will definitely be happening this year. For the otters we like to go all out too. Last year I made them all gelatine stockings each with their names and different designs on. It was fun for me and a bit of a labor of love, and they munched them up in about ten minutes!

In terms of future field trips, we're certainly planning to try and support other cultural institutions in Chicago. We'd like to try and connect with other museums and take the penguins there so we can draw attention to cultural ventures. We've even connected with the mayor and the governor, so it feels like the sky's the limit for our penguins!

I really love taking the birds out on these field trips and knowing that I'm enriching their day. It's rewarding to know that we're making it a little different than the day before.

Christy Sterling is supervisor, marine animals at Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, Illinois and has a bachelor's degree in marine science from Coastal Carolina University. Shedd Aquarium have introduced a new range of virtual programs that allow people to learn about and experience the animals and exhibits online. You can find out more here.

All views expressed in this article are the author's own.

As told to Jenny Haward.