Turtles travel to Mustique to lay their eggs having spent many months or years travelling the oceans before returning to their natal beaches to nest and finally lay their eggs.
Turtles are a critically endangered species and were nearly hunted to extinction but with conservationists working very hard with governments in jurisdictions around the world, the inhabitants of Mustique welcome turtles every year and delight in this.
Click here to read our interview with Raven Hoflund. A conservationist who is a director of The Turtle Project on Mustique, a volunteer organisation dedicated to protecting these endangered sea turtles.
We also talked to Lotty about her own experience of these wonderful creatures:
"They can be seen at most of the beaches around Mustique, but most especially if you snorkel beside Basil's Bar, where you will see dozens of turtles of all sizes, happily eating the seaweed that grows on the sandy seabed.
Here, they are not in the least frightened of swimmers so you can swim very close without disturbing them and watch the sunlight shining through the water which plays mesmerizingly across their beautiful shells.
You will often see them when snorkelling at Cotton House Beach too - and, at Lagoon Bay, if you sit on the beach and look out to sea, you will see their heads frequently popping up for a breath of air, but if you go looking for them with a mask and snorkel, they are uncannily illusive and shy away from swimmers."
Green turtles were the inspiration for Lotty’s Turtle Trellis print, from our Classics collection. From observing turtles over the many years that Lotty has lived on Mustique, she designed this gorgeous print showing the turtles amongst the sealeaf, where they go to feed. Magical!
