The effects of climate change are far reaching - what changes can you see today?
There are two stages for this EarthCache. While you’re visiting them, there are some key observations we ask that you submit before logging the EarthCache. Please submit these in the message center or to: nps_ever_science_comms@nps.gov. Read the text below for background information.
At Stage 1 - on the 3rd level (terreplein)
- Stand at the end of cannon #23 looking outward and observe Bush Key. How has the landform changed since the picture provided here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/drytortugasnps/42344557611/?
- Is there currently a land bridge between Garden and Bush Key?
- Can you see Sooty Terns and/or Brown Noddies on Bush Key or in the area? What do you think will happen to the colonies as Bush Key is enveloped by the sea?
- Please take a photo from the EarthCache roughly in each of the 4 cardinal directions (North, East, South, West) and submit these.
At Stage 2 - on the 3rd level (terreplein)
- Look to the northeast. How many islands can you see?
- Please take a photo from the EarthCache roughly in each of the 4 cardinal directions (North, East, South, West) and submit these.
South Florida and the Florida Keys are extremely vulnerable to the effects of climate change, mainly because of the region’s low-lying elevation. Here, just a few inches can be the difference between having dry or soggy socks. Exasperating matters, jutting out into the warming ocean waters of the Atlantic, Caribbean, and Gulf of Mexico puts the region at heightened risk of damaging winds and storm surges from increasingly frequent and/or more intense tropical storms and hurricanes.
As you are probably well aware at this point, Dry Tortugas National Park is a remote place. The deep-water anchorage near Garden Key and strategic location in the Gulf of Mexico made it a valuable place to fortify. Construction on Fort Jefferson, what you are standing on now, began in 1846, but the value of these islands to many ocean-dependent species was established long before Ponce de Leon set eyes on the islands.
Hospital Key, viewed from the terreplein level of Bastion Four, once had a large hospital on it, hospital on it. Historically the hospital served all ailments, but in the 1860s it was used as a yellow fever quarantine hospital before returning to regular duty when Bird Key took over this role in the 1870s. But it not only served people as it was and remains the site of a nesting colony for masked boobies and sea turtles. Bush Key, viewed best from cannon #23 on the eastern front of the fort, is home to the only nesting colonies in the United States for Sooty Terns and Brown Noddies.
The sandy keys of the Dry Tortugas have always been shaped by the sea. However, normal erosion has been accelerated by sea level rise and more frequent or more intense storms will increase the underwater movement of sand around the park. Bush Key is sometimes connected to Garden Key, the location of Fort Jefferson, by a spit of land. Just one strong storm could change that though.
All of the low-lying keys in the Dry Tortugas are slowly disappearing beneath the waves as sea level slowly ticks upward. Some are already underwater permanently and some are underwater seasonally during the fall months when sea levels are higher because higher ocean temperatures during that period cause seawater to expand.
Information on getting to Dry Tortugas National Park can be found on the park website. Please be aware that there is no cell phone signal or public wifi available in Dry Tortugas National Park and players should plan accordingly.
Please Note: this EarthCache has been developed by Dry Tortugas National Park for the enjoyment of visitors. The placement of caches on lands managed by the National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service remains generally prohibited. The placement of any new cache requires advance written approval from the park.