Incredible Dry Tortugas National Park

Located in Florida west of Key West, Dry Tortugas National Park has an abundance of wildlife. It can only be reached by boat or seaplane. This is a favorite among snorkelers and divers. There is lots of wildlife to enjoy, from nesting seabirds to sea turtles to playful dolphins, among others.

Blue tangs brighten reefs with their vivid blue bodies and yellow tails. These fish are primarily herbivores, feeding on algae and plant matter. They swim about in schools among coral heads. They are a colorful sight for snorkelers and are known for their active swimming and social behavior.

You can see bottlenose dolphins around the islands swimming in pods. These dolphins have a short and well-defined snout that looks like an old-fashioned gin bottle, which is the source of their common name. They chase fish near the surface and bow-ride the wakes of ferries. Bottlenose dolphins primarily eat fish and squid.  These dolphins are very social animals.

Brown boobies are seabirds known for plunging into the sea after fish. They have chocolate-brown bodies with white bellies and yellow feet. These birds can be seen circling offshore waters or resting on buoys. They are gregarious birds that only nest on the ground and roost on solid objects rather than on the water surface. Brown boobies feed during the day alone or gather in flocks, or in mixed-species flocks with other seabirds or other species of booby.  Although brown boobies are powerful and agile fliers, they are particularly clumsy in takeoffs and landings and at times rely on heavy wind to get them going. They have a carnivorous diet, mainly eating small fish, squid, or shrimp that gather near the surface; they may also catch leaping fish while skimming the surface.

Brown pelicans can be seen plunging headfirst into shallow water or sitting on pilings drying their wings. They nest in colonies and circle beaches all day. They are the smallest of 8 pelican species with white and brown plumage and very long bills. Brown pelicans are very gregarious and live throughout the year in flocks.  These birds are primarily carnivores, feeding on fish but will also eat crustaceans such as prawns and occasionally may take amphibians and the eggs and nestlings of birds (e.g., egrets, common murres, and their own species).

Caribbean spiny lobsters like to hide in reef crevices by day, emerging at night to graze on algae and detritus. They have a reddish-brown shell , marked with occasional dark spots on the body and two large, yellowish-cream-colored spots on the top of the second segment of the tail.  Spiny lobsters in coral reefs off Florida and the Bahamas form massive conga lines with up to 50 individuals and migrate to relatively warm water when the first autumn storms stir up the water.

The lobsters march across the sandy sea floor in a single file, head to tail, head to tail, and so on, heading towards deep water where they are safe from the churning water of the storm. They also eat carrion and other organisms like crustaceans, worms, and sea urchins. They are considered omnivores and have been observed occasionally eating vegetation.

Cormorants are big birds known for diving up to 30 feet to spear fish. Like many other aquatic species, these birds have long, curved necks that they use to reach below the surface to snag fish. They swim with their webbed feet. The flightless cormorant is the largest species of cormorant living today.  These birds prefer habitats with rocky cliffs and other suitable nesting habitats but must have the ocean close by to hunt. Cormorants are fish eaters but will also dine on eels, snakes, frogs, crabs, shrimp, and more.

Frigatebirds are known for soaring effortlessly with their forked tails and huge wingspans. All have predominantly black plumage, long, deeply forked tails, and long, hooked bills. Frigatebirds spend most of the day in flight hunting for food and roost on trees or cliffs at night. Their main prey are fish and squid.

Ghost crabs know how to scuttle quickly across beaches. They have pale bodies that blend in with the sand. They are found in sandy beaches of tropical as well as subtropical coasts.  Crabs usually burrow a deep hole to keep themselves cool during the daytime.  They are omnivores, feeding on both animals and plants. They can also devour other crabs and detritus and feed on snails, clams, turtle hatchlings, lizards, and small crabs.

Great barracudas have long, sleek bodies and a mouthful of sharp teeth. These fish hover in open water seeking to seize smaller fish. Barracudas are present all year round, especially near Garden Key and Loggerhead Key. They find refuge in mangroves, deep reefs, and seagrass beds.

Green moray eels hide in reef crevices with their mucus-covered bodies draped like ribbons among the coral. They have very sharp teeth.

Laughing gulls, with raucous calls and sharp black hoods, swarm beaches and docks in noisy flocks. They are fascinating coastal birds known for their distinctive calls and behaviors.  They feed by walking along the beach, by dabbling into the mud, by swimming, or by pecking their prey at the surface during flight.  Laughing gulls are opportunistic carnivores and scavengers. They eat mainly fish, shellfish, crabs, mollusks, insects, bird eggs, and young birds. These birds also consume berries, garbage, refuse, and carrion.

Manatees (pictured above) are gentle giant mammals found in lagoons and canals grazing on water plants. They can eat both freshwater and saltwater plants, including seagrasses, marine algae, manatee grass, sea clover, shoal grass, and turtle grass.

Masked boobies nest on sandy spits in the Tortugas. They have white plumage with black-tipped wings. These birds are great divers that plunge into the ocean at high speed in search of prey. Masked boobies usually spend time alone or in a small group when returning to their colony. During the breeding season, they remain near the colony.  They are carnivores, eating a wide variety of fish, particularly flying fish.

Queen conchs crawl slowly across sandy bottoms and seagrass beds. They leave trails behind in the sand. Their huge shells are pink inside. If you held the shell to your ear, you could hear the sound of the ocean. Conches are protected and have grown into healthy populations.