A Day in the Life: National Aquarium Vets

With thousands of animals to care for, no two days are alike for the National Aquarium's six-person Animal Health team. If you're imagining a steady stream of fish check-ups, the reality might surprise you.

A Full Schedule From the Start

It's 8 a.m. and the team is already huddled together, coffees in hand, going over the day's schedule. Virtual meetings, record-keeping, inventory, and at least one trip off-site are on the docket—in addition to the planned procedures and health checks. Efficiency and teamwork are the only ways to complete everything.

Laura skips using a real needle for this practice blood draw, but she goes through all the other steps. This lets Bayley experience everything (minus the pinprick) she'll see and feel when Animal Health staff do draw her blood. Practice is a success! Tossing Bayley her fishy reward, Laura dashes off to meet the rest of the team in the surgical suite. Their next case is on its way.

Intervention When Needed

The excellent care our Animal Health team provides Aquarium animals primarily involves routine exams and preventive measures. Illnesses or unexpected injuries requiring more intensive treatment can still occur, though. In the case of the white-throated snapping turtle being brought to the surgical suite, Senior Veterinarian Bryan Vorbach and the team have already conducted a few surgeries to help repair an injury to its shell. Though they've tried fusing the cracked scutes and coaxing new tissue to grow, part of the shell isn't healing further and needs to be removed.

Prevention as a Rule

After the procedure, the surgical suite falls silent, save for keyboards clacking and pens scribbling as the crew updates medical records and medication logs. Their next appointment is only minutes away. Their patients this time are four tiny bumblebee pufferfish. Sometimes Aquarium animals get dental work done, and today it's their turn. It looks like Bryan's not finished using handheld power tools for the day.

Just as this half of the team finishes the dental procedure, the other half is gearing up for a trip off-site. Animal Health Director Aimee Berliner and Associate Veterinarian Stefan Gallini have to assess new trout at the Aquarium's Animal Care and Rescue Center.

The Nitty Gritty Side

With the morning's procedures behind them, the team spends the afternoon taking care of smaller tasks. Veterinary Fellow Kaitlyn Upton has just finished checking on a gecko recovering from a benign growth removal when she gets another call.

In human care, poison dart frogs can routinely live between 7 and 11 years, if not longer. This one, at 11 years old, has passed away. Kaitlyn collects the frog from the herpetologist who'd called and confers with her to determine what happened. Both note that the frog had lost weight, but Kaitlyn doesn't see any abnormalities, even when looking at tissue samples under a microscope. She preserves the frog so she can send it out to an external lab for tissue analysis.

Back in the office, the whole team reconvenes one last time to review and update each other on the status of more than 50 animals. Some are animals they've seen recently, others are ones Animal Care staff have noted may need a closer look. They share ideas, ask questions, talk through diagnoses and compare approaches. Their combined decades of schooling and practical experience—necessary skills when caring for more than 600 different types of animals—are on full display as they churn through the cases.

Their list of patients shrinks as healthy animals are discharged, then grows as new animals in need of care are added. Before long, the team's calendar is filling up, not just for tomorrow, but also for the weeks and months ahead. By 5 p.m., the team starts packing up and heading out for the evening. They know that tomorrow's schedule won't be the same as today's, but it's guaranteed to remain busy!