"Aerial view of Fort Jefferson, Florida in 1993" by U.S. National Park Service , public domain
Dry TortugasBrochure |
Official Brochure of Dry Tortugas National Park (NP) in Florida. Published by the National Park Service (NPS).
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Dry Tortugas
Almost 70 miles west of Key West, Florida, lies a cluster
of seven islands, composed of coral reefs and sand, called
the Dry Tortugas. With the surrounding shoals and water,
they make up Dry Tortugas National Park, an area noted
for bird and marine life and shipwrecks. Fort Jefferson,
its central cultural feature, is one of the nation’s largest
1800s masonry forts.
First named Las Tortugas (The Turtles) in 1513, by Spanish
explorer Ponce de León, the reefs soon read
Dry Tortugas National Park
Florida
and went on for 30 years but was never finished. During
the Civil War the fort served as a Union military prison
for captured deserters. It also held four men convicted of
complicity in President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination
in 1865. The Army abandoned the fort in 1874.
“Dry Tortugas” on mariners’ charts to show they offered
no fresh water. In 1825 a lighthouse was built on Garden
Key to warn sailors of coral shoals. The light that now
stands on Loggerhead Key was built in 1857.
By 1829 the United States knew it could control navigation to the Gulf of Mexico and protect Atlantic-bound
Mississippi River trade by fortifying the
Tortugas. Fort Jefferson’s construction
started on Garden Key in 1846,
In 1908 the area became a wildlife refuge to protect the
sooty tern rookery from egg collectors. Proclaimed as Fort
Jefferson National Monument in 1935, the area would be
Green sea turtle
National Park Service
U.S. Department of the Interior
redesignated in 1992 as Dry Tortugas National Park to
protect its nationally significant scenic, cultural, marine,
and scientific values for the education and inspiration
of the public. Not least among its natural treasures are
its namesakes, the endangered green sea turtles and
threatened loggerhead turtles that nest here. Snorkeling,
swimming, saltwater sport fishing, underwater photography, birding, and touring the historic fort are popular
activities in the park today.
The large photo shows
Fort Jefferson on Garden Key.
© DOUG PERR INE / SEAPICS.COM
NPS
Be Prepared for Your Visit
Vital to Nesting Birds
Coral Reefs
The park is open all year. Fort Jefferson is
open daylight hours only, as is Loggerhead
Key. Boats and amphibious planes serve
the park from Key West. Go to “Plan Your
Visit” on the park website for ferry and
seaplane information. You must be selfsufficient: the park has no public lodging,
water, food, bathing facilities, trash facilities, or supplies. Private pleasure boats are
welcome, but must be fully self-sufficient
and must acquire a permit through the
park rangers at Garden Key.
Smallmouth grunts
© TOM STACK / TOM STACK ASSOCIATES
Warm, clear, and well lit, the shallow
waters of the Dry Tortugas foster optimal
conditions for coral reefs to develop on
the outer edges of these islands. Actual
builders of these fringing reefs are small
primitive animals called polyps. Over centuries these polyps accumulate in living
colonies that form the reef’s rigid structures that are so often misconstrued as
rocks. Though fragile, the Tortugas reef
complex supports a wealth of marine life.
Multicolored sea fans sway in gentle currents. Sea anemones thrust upward their
rose and lavender tentacles in search of
food. Lobsters anticipating danger wave
their antennae. Sponges dot sandy bottoms, and staghorn coral clusters create
underwater forests. Most obvious among
coral reef inhabitants are the colorful
reef fishes. Vivid and boldly patterned
reds, yellows, greens, and blues work like
camouflage and identity, warning, and
Snorkeling
NPS / JOHN BROOKS
courtship messages. Predatory fish include
amberjacks, groupers, wahoos, tarpon,
and, atop this coral reef food pyramid,
sharks and barracudas.
Sea turtle populations have diminished
worldwide mostly from illegal hunting for
gourmet meat, leather, and cosmetic oils.
But green, loggerhead, and hawksbill turtles can still be seen in the Dry Tortugas.
Sea turtles prey on small marine invertebrates and forage seagrass and other
aquatic plants. Twice or more per season
females lumber onto beaches to dig out
nests, lay up to 100 eggs, cover them, and
retreat seaward. Hatchlings crawl seaward
by instinct, but many succumb to natural
predators somewhere between the nest
and the sea. It is critical that humans not
add to the threat by disturbing sea turtles
or their nests.
Sooty tern
NPS
In season a succession of songbirds and
other migrants fly over or rest at the Dry
Tortugas. The islands lie across a principal
flyway between North America and South
America. Familiar up north in summer,
many gulls, terns, and migratory shore
birds winter here.
A great wildlife spectacle happens yearly
between mid-January and mid-October
when as many as 100,000 sooty terns
gather on Bush Key for nesting season.
They come from the Caribbean Sea and
west-central Atlantic Ocean. As early as
mid-January, sooties perform nocturnal
maneuvers above the Dry Tortugas but
spend their days at sea. When they do
land here, egg-laying starts immediately.
Bush Key is closed to landings during tern
nesting season, but the rookery is readily
witnessed from the fort with binoculars.
Sooty parents take turns shading the
Frigate bird
© PHILLIP COLLA
single egg—laid in a simple depression in
warm sands—from sunlight. As the young
birds grow strong enough for continuous
flight, the colony disperses.
Interspersed among the sooties’ rookery
are up to 10,000 breeding brown noddies.
Unlike sooties and most other terns, the
noddies nest in vegetation like bay cedar
and sea lavender. Sooties and noddies
both feed by capturing fish and squid
from the sea’s surface while in flight.
Magnificent frigate birds soar with sevenfoot wingspans. They prey on fish and
tern hatchlings. You may also see masked
and brown boobies, roseate terns, brown
pelicans, and double-crested cormorants.
Dry Tortugas National Park is one of over
400 parks in the National Park System. To
learn more about parks and National Park
Service programs visit www.nps.gov.
✩GPO:20xx—xxx-xxx/00xxx Reprint 20xx
Printed on recycled paper
An entry fee is charged for each person
age 16 and up. It is part of your ferry
or seaplane fee. If you arrive by private
vessel, you must come ashore at Garden
Key and pay your park entry fee at the
self-service fee station on the main dock.
Your entry fee is valid for seven days.
Getting Around the Park On arrival orient
yourself at the visitor center inside the
fort. The parade ground has remains of
the Officers’ Quarters, Soldiers’ Barracks,
two magazines, and restored hotshot furnace. Beware of loose mortar and bricks
and wall edges. Help us preserve the
park’s features by leaving everything in
place. And please do not litter.
Overnight Stays Camp only in the Garden
Key primitive campground (fee), firstcome, first-served. Limit 14 consecutive
days, 30 days per calendar year. Grills,
picnic tables, compost toilets, and posts
for hanging food provided. Groups of
10 or more must obtain a reservation in
advance—contact the park. Overnight
anchorage in the park must be within one
nautical mile of the Garden Key Harbor
Light.
Natural and Cultural Features Collecting,
commercial fishing, spearfishing, and the
taking of conch or lobster are prohibited.
Don’t disturb shells, coral, sea fans, tropi-
cal fish, spiny lobsters, or turtles or their
nests. Shipwrecks, their cargo, and all
artifacts are protected by federal law.
Closures Mid-January to mid-October (or
as posted), Bush Key is reserved for birds
only. East, Hospital, Long, and Middle keys
are closed all year. Other closures may
occur as necessary.
Loggerhead Key Day use only; no public
lodging. All buildings are closed to the
public. The pier is closed to docking by the
public. To visit, tie off to the mooring ball
and approach the beach by small boat.
Research Natural Area Almost half of the
park is a Research Natural Area (RNA),
part of a national network of ecological
areas for education, non-manipulative
research, and preservation of biological
and genetic diversity. RNAs provide baseline ecosystem information and sanctuaries for species affected by harvesting or
degraded habitat. (The area within one
nautical mile of the Garden Key Harbor
Light is not in the RNA.)
Only non-consumptive recreation activity
is allowed in the RNA: There is no fishing
or collecting. Anchoring is also prohibited.
Contact the park for current regulations
or visit Florida Keys Eco-Discovery Center,
35 East Quay, Key West, FL 33040, www.
floridakeys.noaa.gov/eco_discovery.html
or 305-809-4750. Tortugas Ecological Reserve, which is next to the RNA, has the
highest percentage of living coral cover
in the Florida Keys.
More Information
Dry Tortugas National Park
PO Box 6208
Key West, FL 33041
305-242-7700
www.nps.gov/drto
Docking, Mooring, Seaplanes, and More
At Dry Tortugas you
can enjoy dramatic
natural and cultural
features. Marine
life concentrates
near patches of live
coral. You can explore the coral
wonderlands in just
three or four feet
of water.
Docking facilities
are reserved for
park-permitted ferries 10 am to 3 pm
daily. Load, unload,
and moor vessels
only as designated
on the public dock
and for up to two
hours between
sunrise and sunset.
Overnight mooring
to docks or piers is
prohibited. Anchor
overnight only
within one nautical
mile of the fort.
Dumping or pumping holding tanks
in park waters is
prohibited.
Seaplanes must approach, land, and
takeoff within one
nautical mile of the
fort and moor only
in the designated
area at Garden Key.
Anchoring, fishing,
and collecting are
prohibited in the
Research Natural
Area (RNA).
East, Hospital,
Long, and Middle
keys are closed to
protect nesting sea
turtles and birds.
Bush Key is closed
mid-January to
mid-October to
protect nesting
terns. For all closures, people and
boats must stay at
least 100 feet from
the mean low tide
mark or obey
buoys or signs.
Warnings
Park waters may
have strong currents. Be safety
conscious. Divers
and snorkelers
must display the
flag indicating
”divers down”
when not in the
designated swim
area.
Submerged features, like coral,
make navigating in
the park’s waters
hazardous.