Meet Dr. Kelsey Herrick, a Great SeaWorld Vet

By: Gabriella, Guest Kid Blogger

Note: The following is from Gabriella, a guest kid blogger who wants to work with animals at SeaWorld when she grows up. She wants to learn everything she can about animals and where they live in the ocean. She likes sharing what she learns at SeaWorld with her friends and readers like you! She's hopes you'll join her in protecting our marine animal friends together.

I have met great people at SeaWorld San Diego who help save animals but sometimes I have questions after I go home to Arizona. When I’m not at SeaWorld I make a list of questions and send them to the friends I’ve met, like Dr. Kelsey Herrick. She’s a SeaWorld veterinarian that helps take care of the animals that live in the park and the ones that need help because they were sick or hurt and rescued.

I met Dr. Herrick when she was learning how to be a vet at SeaWorld and I was there helping rescue an injured sea lion from the beach. She is very smart and loves animals very much.

I emailed her some questions to learn about what she does every day and ask if she had any ideas for kids like me who want to work with animals too. Dr. Herrick said she wanted to be a veterinarian because she always loved science and animals. She even liked going to the doctor to learn about medicine. She started working at SeaWorld when she was still in vet school. She learned a lot and then came back to SeaWorld to work as an intern for a year before she became a SeaWorld vet.

She works with many different animals and said it was hard to pick just one favorite. She said learning new things everyday is amazing and is her favorite part of working at SeaWorld. Everyday is different and sometimes she is in a procedure half the day and sometimes she is checking on park animals that need medicine. Usually her day at SeaWorld starts with procedures (that means operations). Those are always different and are on different animals like checking out a flamingo’s throat or helping a sea lion with shark bite wounds.

She does have pets at home and says her dog Kaia is her most favorite animal ever. She also has a desert tortoise. That’s really awesome because I have a dog and tortoise at my home too!

I asked her what kids like me should do if we wanted to work with animals too. She said to learn about animals and take a lot of science classes. She said every animal job involves science and that knowing about a lot of different animals is good. You can volunteer at places like aquariums, zoos and even shelters to learn about animals and get comfortable around them.

I love science and do a lot to be around different animals so I will be working with animals when I grow up!