Educational expeditions to the Dry Tortugas National Park, Marquesas, Bahamas dolphin grounds and Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary are run in conjunction with many of our scientific programs 

    Join a Dry Tortugas Natural History Expedition

Dry Tortugas

Join the crew of the R/V Tiburon as we explore the out islands of the Florida Keys investigating the unique ecosystems that makes this one of the premier marine sanctuaries in the world. Explore the aquatic ecosystem from Key West to the Marquesas and beyond to the Dry Tortugas National Park. This includes kayaking the mangrove islands, walking the historic sands and battlements of a civil war fort, swimming with giant loggerhead sea turtles, cruising the clear island waters, snorkeling rich patch reefs and coral gardens, and observing the crew capture and tag a small specimen of the docile nurse shark.

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Day 1-Arrive in Key West, 5PM, board the exploration support vessel Tiburon and find your assigned cabin. Join the crew for orientation and safety briefing and enjoy dinner at 7:30 PM followed by a 9:00 PM departure.

Day 2-Awaken at sea off the beautiful Marquesas Islands. Using the Tiburon’s tender and kayaks, small groups will explore and investigate the delicate mangrove and sea grass ecosystems. Lemon sharks, horseshoe crabs, osprey, and eagle rays are a few of the wonders that will be seen. Snorkel dives to patch reefs just offshore and view the many juvenile tropical fish that make this their home. At night we will anchor in the Marquesas archipelago and after dinner enjoy an interactive evening presentation on shark research program sponsored by the Tiburon. Before dawn the next morning, the Tiburon will depart for the Dry Tortugas Islands.

Day 3-Awake for an early breakfast and go ashore on Garden Key in the Dry Tortugas to explore the historic Civil War era Fort Jefferson. The afternoon may be spent either with a guided tender ride or kayaking near the Bird Key tern rookery and Long Key frigate bird colony or swimming, snorkeling and relaxing on the beach at Garden Key.

Day 4-Spend the morning snorkeling the historic 200 foot Dutch shipwreck "Killian" sunk in 1907, now resting in 0 to 18 feet of water and home to several nurse sharks, Goliath Groupers and an amazing formation of coral gardens. The afternoon will be spent ashore on the second largest island in the Tortugas chain, Loggerhead Key. Explore the active lighthouse, discover the ruins of the historical Carnegie research center and beach comb and snorkel little Africa, one of the Keys most outstanding shallow reefs. Dinner is followed by an evening moat walk, viewing the dazzling fish, coral gardens and fascinating marine invertebrates. For the more daring a nocturnal snorkel is available as well.

Day 5-Day five begins with an early morning rendezvous with a commercial shrimp-fishing vessel. See first hand the process of bringing shrimp from the ocean to the market. Spend the morning snorkeling with large pelagic animals including dolphins and turtles. These animals all can be seen and photographed easily from the deck of the boat. These are some of the most amazing encounters with turtles *, in their natural environment, known to exist. Evening presentation from the Tiburon crew of the numerous research and conservation projects taking place in the Dry Tortugas and beyond.

Day 6-Awaken at sea off the beautiful Marquesas Islands. Departing the Marquesas in the early morning the Tiburon spends the rest of the day stopping and snorkeling the shallow tongue and groove reefs that run from the Marquesas to Key West. Late afternoon the vessel will return to port. A farewell dinner is served aboard and the night is spent at the dock for those with flights the following day

Day 7-Continental breakfast before departure from the Tiburon by 9AM

Detailed Information Package