For a temporary work assignment at Dry Tortugas National Park, I arrive the same way that most visitors do, via the morning Yankee Freedom ferry. After miles and miles of open turquoise water, Fort Jefferson appears out of nowhere on the horizon. Magnificent frigatebirds circle in the blue above as we approach the dock. “That is a hell of a lot of bricks,” I say as I ride inside the fort in a golf cart driven by a new colleague. The following day, I shed my disguise and join the park rangers on the dock, greeting the ferry on its daily arrival to Garden Key.
It’s hard to drink enough water and electrolytes in the open sun of Dry Tortugas; your body always wants more. But where the heat is truly overwhelming is underwater...if you’re a coral. On the early morning of day four, I ride along with the Natural Resources team and a crew of visiting scientists on a quest to survey and preserve coral reefs (as climate change triggers coral bleaching). Wearing scuba gear and armed with waterproof clipboards, pencils, cameras, and sampling containers, the scientists dive. We call them back on board early as dark clouds move in and thunder rumbles. Next, we rendezvous with a couple of visitors in a tandem kayak. One of our rangers in a patrol boat has reached them first and easily persuaded them to accept a courtesy transport in the research boat. With the kayak occupying one side of the deck, people and scuba gear the other, we zoom towards Garden Key.
There is a strong sense of solidarity and camaraderie among the visitors and workers on Garden Key. When I follow the winding stairs to the topmost level of Fort Jefferson to watch the sunset, there are a scattering of campers and colleagues atop the fort and along the moat and dock below. We’re all in this together, whether we sleep in the campground outside the fort or the staff housing inside the fort. On the ferry ride back, I watch for the eponymous tortugas (turtles). Although evening is primetime, the search comes up empty—just open turquoise water.
Image #1 (video) and Images #2-8: NPS / Ross Wood Studlar
Narrative text and images #9-13: © Ross Wood Studlar
