Dry Tortugas National Park

Dry Tortugas National Park includes seven small islands. They are about 200 kilometers off the coast of the state of Florida. One of the islands was once a prison.
The first European to see the small islands was the Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon. He arrived by ship in 1513. Ponce de Leon was an older man, who was searching for special water that stories said would make him young again. It was called the “Fountain of Youth.”
Ponce de Leon named the islands the Tortugas. “Tortuga” is the Spanish word for “turtle.” Thousands of turtles lived on the islands. Ponce de Leon was able to capture many of these creatures to provide meat for his ship’s crew.
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