Dry Tortugas

Dry Tortugas

National Park Service map of the Dry Tortugas
Dry Tortugas (Florida)
Geography
Location Gulf of Mexico
Coordinates 24°38′00″N 82°55′12″W / 24.63333°N 82.92000°WCoordinates: 24°38′00″N 82°55′12″W / 24.63333°N 82.92000°W
Archipelago Florida Keys
Total islands 7
Major islands Garde、
Country
United States
State Florida
County Monroe County, Florida
Census County Division Lower Keys
Demographics
Population 0
Additional information
Eastern Standard Time[1]

The Dry Tortugas are a small group of islands, located at the end of the Florida Keys, United States, about 67 miles (108 km) west of Key West, and 37 miles (60 km) west of the Marquesas Keys, the closest islands. Still further west is the Tortugas Bank, which is completely submerged. The first Europeans to discover the islands were the Spanish in 1513, led by explorer Juan Ponce de León. They are an unincorporated area of Monroe County, Florida, and belong to the Lower Keys Census County Division. With their surrounding waters, they constitute the Dry Tortugas National Park.

Geography

Detailed nautical chart

The keys are low and irregular. Some keys have thin growths of mangroves and various other vegetation, while others have only small patches of grass or are devoid of plant life. In general, they rise abruptly from relatively deep water. They are continually changing in size and shape. The Tortugas Atoll has had up to 11 islets during the past two centuries. Some of the smaller islands have disappeared and reappeared multiple times as a result of hurricane impact.

Islands

The total area of the islets, some of which are little more than sand bars just above the water mark, is about 580,000 square meters (143 acres). Their area changes over time as wind and waves reshape them. There are seven islets, which are from West to East:

The three westernmost keys, which are also the three largest keys (Loggerhead Key, Garden Key, and Bush Key), make up about 93 percent of the total land area of the group.

Former islands

Formerly existing keys were, from West to East:

Shoals with lights

Climate

Climate data for Dry Tortugas, FL
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °F (°C) 73.6
(23.1)		 74.8
(23.8)		 77.9
(25.5)		 81.4
(27.4)		 86.0
(30)		 90.0
(32.2)		 91.1
(32.8)		 91.7
(33.2)		 89.7
(32.1)		 84.7
(29.3)		 79.1
(26.2)		 75.5
(24.2)		 82.96
(28.32)
Average low °F (°C) 63.8
(17.7)		 64.4
(18)		 66.8
(19.3)		 70.1
(21.2)		 74.0
(23.3)		 76.5
(24.7)		 78.3
(25.7)		 77.8
(25.4)		 77.2
(25.1)		 74.9
(23.8)		 70.7
(21.5)		 66.1
(18.9)		 71.72
(22.05)
Average precipitation inches (mm) 2.61
(66.3)		 2.11
(53.6)		 2.54
(64.5)		 2.00
(50.8)		 1.57
(39.9)		 3.41
(86.6)		 2.90
(73.7)		 4.26
(108.2)		 6.63
(168.4)		 3.88
(98.6)		 2.02
(51.3)		 2.49
(63.2)		 36.42
(925.1)
Source:

Environment

Bush Key (background) seen from Garden Key (foreground), with Long Key in the very back right

The islands get their name from their distinctive characteristics: Turtles, because Ponce de León, a Spanish explorer, saw several big sea turtles on the island. Soon afterward, the word "Dry" was added to the name, to indicate to mariners the islands' lack of springs.[4] Later seafarers would keep the turtles on their backs in the holds of sailing ships and butcher them when they wanted fresh meat. They are not related to the Caribbean island of Tortuga, near Hispaniola.

The islands are home to Dry Tortugas National Park, and are only accessible by boat or seaplane. The large seabird colony, including Sooty Terns, Brown Noddy, Masked Booby and Magnificent Frigatebird, and the regular occurrence of Caribbean vagrant birds makes them a popular birding destination.

History

Fort Jefferson on Garden Key, from northeast

Spanish explorer Ponce de León gave the Dry Tortugas their name on his first visit in 1513. The name is the second oldest surviving European place-name in the US.[3] They were given the name Las Tortugas (The Turtles) due to 170 sea turtles taken on the islands and shoals by de León's men. Soon afterward, the word "Dry" was added to the name, to indicate to mariners the islands' lack of springs.[4]

In 1742 HMS Tyger wrecked in the Dry Tortugas. The stranded crew lived on Garden Key for 56 days, and fought a battle with a Spanish sloop, before sailing to Jamaica in several boats.[5]

The United States government never completed Fort Jefferson after 30 years on Garden Key, and this bastion remained in Union hands throughout the Civil War. It later was used as a prison until abandoned in 1874. Dr. Samuel Mudd, famous for being the doctor who treated John Wilkes Booth in the wake of the Lincoln assassination, was imprisoned here until early 1869. During the 1880s, the Navy established a base in the Dry Tortugas, and it subsequently set up a coaling (refueling) and a wireless (radio) station there as well. During World War I, a seaplane base was established in the islands, but it was abandoned soon thereafter.

From 1903 until 1939 the Carnegie Institution of Washington operated the Marine Biology Laboratory on Loggerhead Key which "...quickly became the best-equipped marine biological station in the tropical world.” Through the years, over 150 researchers used the facilities to perform a wide range of research.[6]

An account of a visit to the fort at the Dry Tortugas by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Justice-to-be Robert H. Jackson can be found in the book That Man: An Insider's Portrait of Franklin D. Roosevelt, by Robert H. Jackson, edited and introduced by John Q. Barrett (Oxford University Press, New York, 2003).

In August 2004, the Dry Tortugas were directly struck by Hurricane Charley. The following day, a Cessna airplane crashed into the water near the islands, killing cinematographer Neal Fredericks while he was filming scenery for the feature film CrossBones.

In art and literature

Billy Bones speaks of the Dry Tortugas in his drunken tales recounted early in Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island (1884)[7] The islands are also the location for Nevada Barr's 2003 novel, Flashback.

In popular culture

The pirate Edward Kenway, the main character of Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, visits the Dry Tortugas as well as other locales, throughout his adventure.

The Dry Tortugas are featured in Bob and Ray's "Mary Backstage" serial.[8]

Visiting the Dry Tortugas

The Dry Tortugas are 70 miles (110 km) west of Key West, Florida. Visiting the park by private boat is difficult because of its distance, so most visitors come by ferry, catamaran, or seaplane from Key West. Other methods of visiting the Dry Tortugas include chartering of authorized and approved private vessels. Only certain companies have access to fish or dive near the Dry Tortugas. Official ferry and transportation services to the Dry Tortugas includes the Yankee Freedom III catamaran, private vessel chartering and seaplane services.[9]

Graphics

See also

References

  1. ↑ Fodor's South Florida – Google Books. Retrieved 2010-06-23.
  2. ↑ "Loggerhead Key High Point". Peakbagger.com.
  3. ↑ Florida was named earlier, April 2, 1513, by Ponce de León – From Spanish historian Antonio de Herrera y Tordesillas's account, published in 1601 – Stewart, George (1945). Names on the Land: A Historical Account of Place-Naming in the United States. New York: Random House. p. 13. ISBN 1-59017-273-6.
  4. ↑ Gannett, Henry (1905). The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States. Govt. Print. Off. p. 109.
  5. ↑ The Dry Tortugas and Marquesas Keys – The British Castaways of HMS Tyger – Retrieved July 6, 2007
  6. ↑ Carnegie Institution of Washington Administration Records, 1890–2001
  7. ↑ “His stories were what frightened people worst of all. Dreadful stories they were—about hanging, and walking the plank, and storms at sea, and the Dry Tortugas, and wild deeds and places on the Spanish Main.” Stevenson, Robert Louis (1884) Treasure Island, Roberts Brothers publishers. p.5.
  8. ↑ Internet Archive: Bob and Ray Soap Operas
  9. ↑ "Directions". Dry Tortugas National Park. National Park Service. Retrieved 14 January 2013.

External links