I got asked to help out at the nursery in the Dry Tortugas again! It's been so long since I've been able to do field work, that I jumped at the chance to go back!
We arrived bright and early in Key West, where a nice rainbow over the marina greeted us. That has to be a good omen!
Working in remote locations has it's challenges....like having to haul your gear all over the place in carts! Caitlin does it with a smile though!
Unfortunately, the fort is falling down....literally. The research quarters where we normally stay in the fort were condemned because the walls fell in. So, we had to resort to camping...in June...in the Dry Tortugas! Anything in the name of science!
Our campsite had a great view though!
I was suffering from a head cold and couldn't dive, but I was able to serve as the boat captain and help Meaghan and Caitlin with gear! On our first day there, we were able to get one dive in at the nursery to assess the corals and start cleaning. The nursery is located between the Fort on Garden Key and Loggerhead Key, so the view from the boat is great!
Meaghan planned all of our meals. On the first night, we had grilled chicken, veggies and corn on the cob! Not to shabby for camping in the middle of nowhere! The next night, we grilled mini pizzas!!
Sunset is our favorite time on the island. They have some of the most phenomenal sunsets!!
Day 1 Sunset
This is why we couldn't stay in the fort....see how the outer wall is falling down? It costs an estimated $13 million dollars to repair the fort walls and there isn't the funding to do it. That's very sad considering budget cuts and lack of funding to run state and national parks (insert suggestion here for everyone to support their parks!!!) are causing us to lose these great treasures.
But, it's still a great place to visit and explore!
Sunset at our campsite.
We walked up to the lighthouse to watch the lightening storm and enjoy some Oreos!!
After our second day, we had some unexpected visitors! Ben and Evan, friends from Miami were participating in a research cruise around the Dry Tortugas at the same time we were on the island, so they decided to swim ashore for a quick visit!
That's their ship, the Spree.
Unfortunately, they didn't get to stay long before they had to swim back!
It looks like a really long swim to me, but they made it before it got dark!
Sunset Day 2
Pelicans....one of my favorites!
More sunset
Since Meaghan and Caitlin are rock stars and got all of the nursery work done on our second day there, we got to have a fun day at the fort while we waited to take the ferry home. What better way to spend the morning than snorkeling around the fort?
Here's a school of sennets (small pointy fish related to barracuda).
There's pretty low coral cover around the fort, but there are lots of sea fans and encrusting corals.
There was a huge school of little silver fish that almost completely surrounded the fort walls.
They were awesome to swim through!
Cute little seargent majors.
Caitlin dives through the school.
Here's a Goliath Grouper!
Not sure what kind of gastropod this is, but he was huge!
This was one big hogfish!
We found this school of stoplight parrotfish with one chub that was hanging around. Not sure if he thought he was a parrotfish or not!!
We kept watching the tarpon swim through the big school of fish and often got freaked out when one swam at us through the school.
View of the fort from the water!
