KEY WEST, Fla. — Dry Tortugas National Park has been temporarily closed after at least 500 migrants arrived over the weekend and following days, according to a news release.
Park officials said the closure is expected to last several days and is "necessary for the safety of visitors and staff because of the resources and space needed to attend to the migrants."
It's also noted that concession-operated ferry and seaplane services are also temporarily suspended.
"Like elsewhere in the Florida Keys, the park has recently seen an increase in people arriving by boat from Cuba and landing on the islands of Dry Tortugas National Park," park officials said in a statement. "Park first responders provide food, water and basic medical attention until the Department of Homeland Security arrives and takes the lead."
Ships and boats may seek safe harbor in the designated areas within the one nautical mile anchoring zone around Garden Key, including Bird Key Harbor, the statement noted.
In addition to landings at the national park over the weekend, 160 other migrants arrived in the Middle and Upper Keys. At least 88 of the migrants are from Cuba, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a tweet.
U.S. Border Patrol and Coast Guard crews patrolling South Florida and the Keys have been experiencing the largest escalation of migrations by boat in nearly a decade, with hundreds of interceptions in recent months, mostly of people from Cuba and Haiti. Economic turmoil, food shortages and soaring inflation in Cuba and other parts of the Caribbean is spurring the most recent wave of migration.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.