David Ayers, "Pharmacist to the Sea Turtles" fills another order for us.

Topsail Island, NC - What do you do when a sea turtle has a headache, a cough or a sore flipper? First off, you check the hospital medicine cabinet for something to take care of the problem. But when the cupboard is bare, or the medicine you’re looking for is all gone, you go shopping. At the turtle hospital we turn to our friendly neighbors up the street at Surf City Pharmacy, “the best pharmacy on the island.”

Sometimes we tend take the people on the periphery of our hospital work for granted, just assuming that they’ll be there whenever we have need of their services. By now David Ayers, RPh., has become accustomed to getting calls from Jean and our vets for turtle-specific lotions and potions. He probably never thought he’d end up being “pharmacist to the sea turtles” when he was going through school in Chapel Hill. After serving in the Army and co-owning pharmacies in the Lenoir area for 20 years, the Ayers family scouted up and down the NC coast for the ideal place to open their own business.

In 1996, they found the perfect spot, next to Beach Care. They signed the papers - two days before hurricane Fran devastated the island! As their business grew, they moved to their current location in August of 1999 – right before hurricane Dennis. Philosophical about his bad luck with hurricanes, David says that the intended remodeling on the building was just done a little sooner than they had planned.

Because of Jean Beasley’s legendary turtle status here on Topsail Island, David wasn’t too surprised when she came in requesting turtle medications. So exactly what is he dispensing for our turtles?

We deal with a whole range of injuries and illnesses, from simple abrasions, to amputations, to traumatic head wounds. For most of the external injuries we use lots of Betadine, Silvadene, (SSD), and triple antibiotic ointment. To treat pain, infections and pneumonia we use injectables that require prescriptions.

After examining a patient, our turtle vet, Dr. Craig Harms calls his pharmacy with the information. Medications are ordered for a specific patient, for a specific problem and at specified dosages. All the bottles and tubes have the patient’s name on them. We take great care in storing the medication properly and in making sure we’re giving the right stuff to the right turtle. Often the dosages are verified by a second set of eyes just to be sure. (Funny tidbit: when we take our turtles to the NC State Vet School they are identified by name and “The Beasley Herd” on all their paperwork.)

Lately we’ve been going through a lot of eye drops and ointments, most recently for little Green “Leap.” These bitty guys take a real beating when they get caught up in nets. They’re admitted with swollen eyes that are obviously very painful. Thankfully, they’re surprisingly obliging when subjected to drops up to three times a day and they often heal quickly.

In addition to dispensing medication, David frequently “dispenses” directions to our hospital. Because of his location on the main road he’s become a defacto tourist info stop for visitors looking for our turtles.

Flipper hugs go out to David and the great folks at the Surf City Pharmacy for always tracking down what we need on a moment’s notice, and for pointing our visitors in the right direction.

Hospital closed until June

June is just around the corner. We’ve got a hospital full of healthy looking turtles just waiting to get their parole papers from Miss Jean and our vet. We’ll let you know who makes the cut in a few more weeks. Until then, visit our turtles on-line at: www.seaturtlehospital.org.

Beach patrols began May 1st
Topsail Turtle Project volunteers were all suited up and ready to roll. Or, more accurately they’re all T-shirted up and ready to stroll – the beaches that is – in search of nesting activity. If you see tracks or turtles on the beach contact Terry Meyer at 910-470-2880 immediately. 

Questions or Comments about this column?
Contact me at: flippers@embarqmail.com