The Dry Tortugas are a group of seven small islands located in the Gulf of Mexico, about 70 miles west of Key West. They’re part of Dry Tortugas National Park and are known for their beaches, crystal clear waters filled with abundant marine life, and the historic and massive Fort Jefferson that dates back to the Civil War.
The area was first protected as a federal bird reservation — that’s the forerunner to the national wildlife refuge system — in 1908 by President Theodore Roosevelt. And then President Franklin Roosevelt created a national monument there in 1935, which was expanded to include the surrounding islands in 1983. Congress then made it the Dry Tortugas National Preserve in 1992.
Conservation photographer Ian Wilson-Navarro was born in Miami but has lived his entire life in Key Largo. He got his first camera as a teenager, and first visited the Dry Tortugas around that same time camping and fishing with his father. In 2021, he and a friend were chosen for a National Parks Arts Foundation artist residency in the Dry Tortugas on Loggerhead Key.
His proposal for the residency pitched the idea of capturing images to create a book, and that book is now out. "Dry Tortugas: Stronghold of Nature" was published last month by University Press of Florida. It features about 200 of his photographs along with essays by people with intimate knowledge of the park who explore its history, culture, and environment. (Sarah Fangman, Cori Convertito, Curtis Hall, and Nancy Klingener)
Guest:
Ian Wilson-Navarro, conservation photographer based in Key Largo, and author of "Dry Tortugas: Stronghold of Nature"
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