5 Questions With The February 2025 #DryTortugas Photo Contest Winner

Meet Cory Kittredge, our February 2025 #DryTortugas Photo Contest winner. We had the chance to ask him a few questions about his experience at the Dry Tortugas National Park. Read on to learn how he captured his amazing photo!

1. When did you visit the Dry Tortugas National Park? Did you arrive by seaplane, the Yankee Freedom ferry, or another way?
We visited the park on December 30th 2024. We arrived at Garden key/Fort Jefferson via the Yankee Freedom ferry.

2. If you arrived by the Yankee Freedom, how was your ferry trip?
It was a delight. The seas were calm, the sun was shining, and the coffee was robust. The crew of the Yankee Freedom was organized, helpful, and ensured all passengers would reach their destination safely.

3. How did you capture your winning photo? What inspired you to take it? Did you use any cool camera gear?
The first thing we did once we arrived at Fort Jefferson was walk around the moat for awhile and observed a variety of marine wildlife. It was at this time we saw the Loggerhead turtle enjoying a morning stroll in the moat. We followed the turtle around for a few minutes observing its natural beauty. Eventually, the Loggerhead positioned itself nicely in front of Fort Jefferson and the clear, calm waters and bright sunny sky provided an excellent photo opportunity. The picture was taken with nothing special, just a standard smartphone.

4. What made your trip to the Dry Tortugas memorable?
It was kind of a last minute trip and we flew down to Florida from Wisconsin wanting to go to the Dry Tortugas National Park but not having any tickets for the Yankee Freedom ferry. Our original plan was to wake up very early and wait in the standby line. However, the day before we kept checking the website to see if two tickets would become available and we got very lucky and scored some tickets at the last minute!

Just exploring the fort and its historic storied past is memorable enough. Fort Jefferson is truly in a category of its own. A 1800’s fortress in the middle of the ocean that is abundant with nature is quite the site to see. We also saw a giant Goliath grouper near the surface right next to the landing docks. I did not realize how big they were! It could have eaten me whole! But the most memorable part of the trip was being able to share all these wonderful experiences with the love of my life. 

5. What do you plan to do with your National Park Annual Pass?
Within the next year we definitely plan on visiting a few more National Parks. There are so many great parks it’s hard to choose which one we’d like to visit next! Acadia? Congaree? Isle Royale and the Voyagers? Road trip out west/southwest? The possibilities are endless, I guess time will tell!