Dry Tortugas National Park

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Template:Infobox protected area Dry Tortugas National Park preserves Fort Jefferson and the Dry Tortugas islands of the Florida Keys. The park covers 101 mi² (262 km²), mostly water, about 68 statute miles (109 km) west of Key West in the Gulf of Mexico.

It is famous for abundant sea life, colorful coral reefs and legends of shipwrecks and sunken treasures. The park's centerpiece is Fort Jefferson, a massive but unfinished coastal fortress that was rendered obsolete by the invention of the rifled cannon. It is the largest masonary structure in the Western Hemisphere, and is comprised of over 16 million bricks. The fort was eventually converted into a prison for Union Army deserters and the accomplices implicated in President Abraham Lincoln's assassination. The most famous of these was Dr. Samuel Mudd. The U.S. Army abandoned the fortress in 1874 and a nearby sooty tern rookery was a favored hunting ground for egg collectors, until a wildlife refuge was established in 1908.

Image:Fort-Jefferson Dry-Tortugas.jpg On January 4, 1935, President Franklin Roosevelt designated it Fort Jefferson National Monument. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on November 10, 1970. On October 26, 1992 the Dry Tortugas, including Fort Jefferson, was established as a national park. The islands do not exhibit any standing fresh water or even seasonal streams, hence their name. Owing to the potential difficulties of survival in such conditions one of these islands were used as the location for the filming of a military survival film used to train aircraft personnel.

The park is roughly 70 statute miles (60 nautical miles) or 110 kilometers by boat west of Key West, and plays host to almost 80,000 visitors each year. Activities include snorkeling, picnicking, scuba diving, saltwater fishing and birdwatching.

The most popular bird watching event is the sooty tern gathering, the nesting season on Bush Key between February and September involving an estimated 100,000 terns. Bush Key remains closed to visitors during the nesting season, but bird watchers with binoculars or telephoto lenses can watch the spectacle from Fort Jefferson. Other bird species in the park include noddies, brown pelicans, frigate birds, masked boobies, roseate terns, brown boobies and double-crested cormorants. Image:Submerged artifact at Dry Tortugas NP.jpg