The island was visited by
Amerindians from the coast of present-day Venezuela to exploit its natural resources including salt, fish and turtles, well before
Spanish colonization of the New World. It is not known by which European explorer the island was first seen and named, yet the name derives from the large numbers of
marine turtles that come to lay eggs on its long sandy beaches every year. The island was seasonally visited by the
Dutch who came there to exploit the
salt evaporation ponds on the east of the island between 1624 and 1638. They constructed a fort on the island to guard their salt works and repel the
Spanish who were eager to keep the Dutch off the island. They were definitively expelled in 1638 when the Spanish governor of
Cumaná,
Benito Arias Montano, and his forces destroyed their facilities and flooded the
salt pans. Since then, with the exception of fishermen who visit the island seasonally, the island has remained unpopulated and largely untouched. There is some tourism on the island. ==Gallery==