Ocean waves crashing over a heart-shaped rock island off the coast of Sydney, Australia

© Kristian Bell/Getty Image

An oceanic Valentine

Just off the coast of Sydney, Australia, the surf crashing over this rocky cluster is creating the perfect maritime Valentine’s Day image. We'll take nature's love letters wherever we find them. But why is 14 February the day we celebrate love? Some claim Valentine’s Day has its roots in an ancient Roman fertility festival called Lupercalia, which included goat sacrifices and a lottery of eligible men and women. Others argue that the occasion began with Christians celebrating a martyr named Valentine. Chaucer romanticised the day with a poem about two birds mating for life. No matter whether its origins are pagan or Christian, in the modern world, Valentine’s Day is widely celebrated as a day devoted to love.