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In 1513, Ponce de Leon discovered the place and named it after a large number of turtles living in the waters around the island. It means a turtle in Spanish. Ponce de Leon caught more than 100 turtles while he was on the island. The island was later given a name Dry Tortugas to show other seafarers that the land lacked fresh water, which was an extremely important detail known to seafarers. The area is known for its dangerous reefs, and a lighthouse was built on Garden Island in 1825 to warn ships and guide them to safe places. Shipwrecks were common at the time, and the history of underwater wrecks can be traced back to the 17th century. Dry Tortugas currently has one of the richest concentration of shipwrecks in North America.