A few years after his successes in Hispaniola, Ponce de Leon crossed over to Puerto Rico (then called Boriquien) and conquered the people over there. He was quickly named governor of Puerto Rico by the Spanish king. Supposedly, Ponce de Leon treated the Indians under his governorship in a non-violent manner. In 1512, the king stripped Ponce de Leon of his governor title but granted him permission to discover and settle the island of Bimini.

In March of 1513, Ponce de Leon went from Puerto Rico to the northeast and landed in Florida. He was quite impressed by the variety of flowers and named the land "florida." He sailed along the coast of Florida and ended up at Pensacola Bay. On his way back to Puerto Rico, he discovered the small islands that Key West visitors are so well-aware of today, the Dry Tortugas. He named them "las Tortugas" (Spanish for "the turtles") after the abundance of sea turtles found on the islands.

When Ponce de Leon then returned to Spain, he received an extra grant to go and establish colonies in Florida. He went and started up colonies but in 1521, the native attacked and Ponce de Leon was wounded in battle. He went to Cuba to try to heal but died a few days after his arrival.

Today, in the Dry Tortugas, we know that Ponce de Leon was the first person to discover these islands and recognize their strategic placement on the passageway from the Gulf of Mexico into the Caribbean.

Along with 8 other people, Dr. Samuel Mudd was convicted of conspiracy in the murder of President Lincoln. Him and four others were spared the death sentence and instead given a sentence of life in prison. The men were sent to the Dry Tortugas where Fort Jefferson was being used as a prison. After an attempt to escape by stowing away on one of the ships, but he was quickly found and his life on Garden Key being even more dreary. However, an epidemic of yellow fever began to spread and the prison's physician died from the disease. Dr. Mudd also acquired yellow fever but he quickly recovered and began to help people at the fort. He was single-handedly able to help the prisoners recover from the deadly epidemic.

Because of his great aid during the dark time of the epidemic of yellow fever, some of the prisoners and workers at Fort Jefferson wrote a letter to the federal government informing them of Dr. Mudd's crucial role in saving most of the population at the fort. President Johnson himself put forth a pardon for Dr. Mudd, effectively calling for his release from the prison. After his release, Dr. Mudd successfully reoriented himself into his old community of Bryantown, Maryland, joining in city politics and even having a 9th child.

The Brown Noddies are an interesting species of bird. These are tropical seabirds that can be found all over the world including Hawaii, Australia, the Red Sea, the Indian Ocean, and the Caribbean Ocean. The Brown Noddy (also known as the Common Noddy) can be distinguished from the closely related Black Noddy mainly by its size. The Brown Noddy is much larger and its plumage is a dark brown color instead of black. Because these are a colonial type of bird, they typically nest on elevated areas like cliffs or short trees, but they sometimes nest on flat grounds, like the Brown Noddies that came to the Dry Tortugas. During the nesting season, only a single egg is laid by the female noddy with each pair of male and female noddy only producing one offspring. Brown Noddies typically travel in large numbers as they seem to find safety in the large groups.

For this focus, we will look at the curious, fly-eating Loggerhead Kingbird. The Loggerhead Kingbird are part of the Tyrannidae family (also known as tyrant flycatchers). They are found all over North and South America, though they are more concentrated in tropical areas of these continents. The tyrant flycatchers are the largest family of birds on earth today and they include a total of 400 species. Many species of Tyrannidae including the Loggerhead Kingbird are considered of "least concern" in conservation status, which is the level just up from "threatened," meaning they are still somewhat at risk of endangered status but are on the level that is of least concern.

The Loggerhead Kingheads on Dry Tortugas were the first of their kind spotted in the entire United States. In fact, their second sighting ever was made in March of 2008. Like the other flycatchers, the Loggerhead Kingbird have whiskers similar to that of cats and dogs. In reality, these whiskers are not hairs like on mammals but are specialized feathers. To find the Loggerhead Kinghead, you need to look for a small bird with a black head and a square-like profile when viewed from behind. They are mainly black, dark grey, and white: their backs are usually black and most of their underparts are white. Their tail is square with a white band.

The Magnificent Frigate is noticeable for scarlet-colored throat pouch that becomes inflated during breeding season. These are the males. The scarlet color is extra prominent against the pitch-dark black of the rest of the frigate's body. These feathers are actually black but become iridescent and are seen as purple when the sunlight hits the bird directly. The females are also black but their lower neck and their breast are white. Undeveloped frigates also have a white head in addition to their white body and lower neck. Furthermore, if this wasn't enough to be able to pinpoint the Magnificent Frigate, you can look for them as the silent bird while in flight but listen for a strange rattling sound while the bird is in its nest.

These birds are typically found in tropical areas around the Atlantic like the Dry Tortugas but also including Florida, various Caribbean islands, and the Cape Verde Islands. The bird was once called the Man O'War due to its speed and its piracy over other birds while in flight. The best time to see the largest number of birds in Dry Tortugas is the springtime.

The Masked Booby is distinguishable through the dark grey, almost black, on its face, covering its eyes and the outline of its beak. The adult masked booby is white and has pointed black wings as well as a pointed black tail. The only distinguishing feature between the male and the female masked booby is the color of the bill: the male's is yellow and the female's is of a greenish tint. These birds do not make much noise when out at sea, but when they gather in their nesting colonies, they have a distinct reedy whistling greeting call.

Masked Boobies feed on small fish and species of flying fish. They don't move much but when it comes time to feed, they are quite impressive divers and plunge into the sea diagonally at quite high speeds. They lay two eggs during breeding and nesting season, but only one of them is actually raised by the parent birds. The first baby masked booby to hatch typically throws the other egg off the nest, leaving the other baby to fend for itself, usually leaving it up for scavengers such as crabs and land birds. These birds not too easy to find so consider yourself lucky if you are able to spot these interesting birds.

The sooty tern is a seabird that is part of the tern family and is also known as the Wideawake Tern (or simply, wideawake). The unusual name comes from the loud and incessant bird calls that they make when they are gathered together in one of their colonies. The birds are usually about 16 inches long with a wingspan of up to 34 inches. They have a dark, slender, and pointed bill and a long, dark, and forked tail. They have a black topside and a white underside. Their head is rounded and they do not have the crests that are common in other seabirds.

Sooty tern are typically a migratory species. They are seabirds predominantly and usually are found in island or tropical environments, close to the ocean. You can find these birds more in the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea than in the Pacific Ocean. Like they do in the Dry Tortugas on Bush Key, they almost always breed in big colonies and on top of coral or some other rocky type of island. Its nesting behavior includes scraping the ground and creating a hole where they lay one to three eggs. Breeding is one of the only times these birds come to land for an extended period of time. They can stay out at sea for anywhere between 3 to 10 years, by soaring in the air or floating on the water.

Most mature Brown Pelicans have ashy brown wings and a white neck. Their head is white in the back with a touch of yellow on their forehead and their eyes surrounded black. They have an elongated bill with an extensible pouch that holds the fish they catch. As far as their size goes, they usually measure between 100 and 137 centimeters in length and they have a 200 centimeter wingspan.

Brown Pelicans typically catch their prey by swimming close to the water and then diving in and catching a fish, or several fish, whole. They either store the fish in their bill or eat it right up. If you are out on the Dry Tortugas and keep an eye out on the open ocean (preferably using binoculars) to see these birds soaring close to the ocean.

Hurricane Charley was a Category 4 hurricane with sustained winds of up to 150 miles per hour. The total cost in damage of the hurricane is estimated at $16.3 billion. There were a total of ten deaths that were a direct result of the hurricane. This was the strongest and costliest hurricane to hit the southwest region of Florida in 1960 with Hurricane Donna.

In the Dry Tortugas, the storm caused a storm surge of up to 6 feet. Along with a bunch of incoming waves, the storm surge caused awful flooding in the Dry Tortugas, particularly on Garden Key where Fort Jefferson is located. The surge and the flooding damaged the first layer of bricks that surround the fort's moat wall as well as damaging two boat docks. Before the storm, there was a natural land bridge that connected Garden Key and Bush Key (where the sooty terns come to nest between March and September), but that was washed away during the storm.

But like other places that have been damaged by hurricanes, the locals and regulars came to the rescue. People from Key West as well as Dry Tortugas lovers and national parks enthusiasts rushed to help bring the islands back to their condition before Hurricane Charley. There was a special fund set up for the Dry Tortugas that was meant to be used in emergency situations like this one. For a few weeks, the Dry Tortugas had to cease their regular operations and all workers and a few volunteers worked daily to help bring the islands and the fort back to normal. Today, the effects are not noticeable and the 2008 hurricane season has come and gone with only the most minor of effects on the Dry Tortugas.

The Dry Tortugas is one of the most intricate island-water ecosystems in the United States. It is one of the top locations for spawning areas for reef fish, for instance. Other important and sometimes endangered species that make the Dry Tortugas their home include grouper, snapper, and spiny lobster. The current that goes through the Dry Tortugas sends many of these spawning creatures as far north as Georgia, making this area important for a much larger area and ecosystems throughout the Southeast United States. In the years leading up to the area's status as a protected Ocean Wilderness reserve, there was increase in commercial fishermen in the surrounding areas of the National Park, as well as improved navigation through the area and an increase in recreational fishing from small, private boats.

Thanks to the efforts of Gail Norton, the then-Secretary of the Interior, the Dry Tortugas is now the third protected coral reef area in the whole world. This move is hailed by nature enthusiasts and Dry Tortugas lovers because it will ensure that the area remains as untouched and pristine for generations to come, keeping America's most unique national park open to visitors for many more years.