Sable Island
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Sable Island île de Sable |
|
  |
|
| Coordinates: | |
|---|---|
| Country |  Canada |
| Province |  Nova Scotia |
| Municipality | Halifax Regional Municipality |
| District | 13 |
| Founded | 1521 |
| Area (Island) | |
| Population (2001) | |
| - Total | 13 |
| Time zone | AST (UTC-4) |
| - Summer (DST) | ADT (UTC-3) |
| GNBC Code | CBRQR |
Sable Island (French: île de Sable) is a small Canadian island situated 180 km southeast of Nova Scotia in the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2001, the island is home to around 15 people. Sable Island is specifically mentioned in the Constitution of Canada as being the special responsibility of the federal government, but for many political purposes it is part of District 13 of the Halifax Regional Municipality.
Contents |
[edit] Geography
Sable Island is a narrow crescent-shaped sandbar with a surface area of about 34 km². Despite being nearly 42 km long, it is no more than 2 km across at its widest point. It emerges from vast shoals and shallows on the continental shelf which, in tandem with the area's frequent fog and sudden strong storms including hurricanes and northeasters, have caused over 350 recorded shipwrecks. [1] It is often referred to as the Graveyard of the Atlantic, as it sits astride the great circle route from North America's east coast to Europe. The nearest landfall is 160 kilometres to the northwest near Canso, Nova Scotia.
Sable Island was named after its sand—sable is French for “sand”. It is covered with grass and other low-growing vegetation. Sable Island is believed to have formed from large quantities of sand and gravel deposited on the continental shelf near the end of the last ice age. The island is continually changing its shape with the effects of strong winds and violent ocean storms. The island has several freshwater ponds on the south side between the station and west light and a brackish lake named Lake Wallace near its centre. There are frequent heavy fogs in the area due to the contrasting effects of the cold Labrador Current and the warm Gulf Stream. During winter months, the moderating influence of the Gulf Stream can sometimes give Sable Island the warmest temperatures in Canada.
Sable Island should not be confused with Cape Sable Island in southwestern Nova Scotia.
[edit] Wildlife
The island is home to over 300 free-roaming feral horses which are protected by law from human interference. The best evidence for the origin of the horse population is that they are descended from horses confiscated from Acadians during the Great Expulsion and left on the island by Boston merchant Thomas Hancock, uncle of John Hancock.
In the past, excess horses have been rounded up and shipped off the island for use in coal mines on Cape Breton Island, or to be sold, but the Government gave full protection to the horse population in 1960, and they have been left alone ever since. No human is allowed to interact with any of the island's wildlife because it is a wildlife preserve and is protected by the Canadian government.
Several large bird colonies are also resident; Arctic terns, and Ipswich sparrows (Passerculus sandwichensis princeps), a subspecies of the Savannah Sparrow that breed in no other location. Harbour and Grey seals also breed on the island's shores. There is also a species of freshwater sponge (Heteromeyenia macouni) found only in ponds on the island.
[edit] History
The Portuguese explorer João Álvares Fagundes and his expedition, who explored this region in 1520–1521, may have been among the first humans to have encountered the island. A life-saving station was established on Sable Island by the government of Nova Scotia in 1801 and its life-saving crew became the first permanent inhabitants of the island, a brief attempt at colonization at the end of the 16th century by France having failed. Two lighthouses, one on the eastern tip and one on the western tip were built in 1872.[2] Until the advent of modern ship navigation, Sable Island's two light stations were home to permanent lighthouse keepers and their families, as well as the crewmembers of the life-saving station. In the early 20th century, the Marconi Company established a wireless station on the island and the Canadian government similarly established a weather station.
Although the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) has now automated the light stations, Environment Canada and DFO conduct routine meteorological and atmospheric studies from a permanently occupied station on Sable Island because of its unique isolated geographic position down-wind from the North American mainland. Sable Island is specifically mentioned in the Constitution of Canada as being the special responsibility of the federal government. For this reason it is considered a separate amateur radio "entity" (equivalent to country for award credit) and the occasional operators who visit use the special callsign prefix CY0.
Out of concern for preserving the island's frail ecology, as well as sovereignty purposes, recreational boaters require specific permission from CCG to set foot on the island. The Canadian Forces continuously patrol the area using aircraft and naval vessels, partly due to the nearby presence of natural gas and oil drilling rigs and an undersea pipeline. Sable Island's heliport also contains emergency aviation fuel for search and rescue helicopters, which use the island to stage further offshore into the Atlantic. Should the need arise, the island also serves as an emergency evacuation point for crews aboard nearby drilling rigs of the Sable Offshore Energy Project.
The island is a part of the Halifax Regional Municipality and the federal electoral district of Halifax, although the urban area of Halifax proper is some 300 km or 190 mi away on the Nova Scotian mainland.
[edit] Sable Island Station
Sable Island is the subject of extensive scientific research. A wide range of manual and electronic instruments are used at the Sable Island station, including the Automatic Weather Observing System operated by the Meteorological Service of Canada; an aerology program measuring conditions in the upper atmosphere using radiosonde which is carried aloft by a hydrogen-filled balloon to altitudes beyond 35 kilometres; and a program collecting data on background levels of carbon dioxide (CO2), which began on the island in 1974. Research is also done on Sable Island to monitor the long range transport of pollution aerosols. Fog chemistry is studied, examining the transport and composition of atmospheric toxins carried in fog. Tropospheric ozone is measured and is analyzed by researchers in Canada and the USA along with 20 other North American sites.
The installation of the BGS Magnetic Observatory on Sable Island was funded as a joint venture between the British Geological Survey, Sperry-Sun Drilling Services, and Sable Offshore Energy. The data collected at the observatory aid scientific research into rates of change of the Earth's magnetic field and increase the accuracy of the BGS Global Geomagnetic Model. Data from the geomagnetic observatory are used by the offshore energy industry for precise positioning activities such as directional drilling.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Maritime Museum of the Atlantic Sable Island Shipwreck & Lifesaving Web Page
- ^ E.H. Rip Irwin. Lighthouses and Lights of Nova Scotia, Nimbus Press, pages 100-102
[edit] Trivia
 |
Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones. |
- In 1901, the federal government planted over 80,000 trees on the island in an attempt to stabilize the soil; all died.
- Sable Island is mentioned in the book The Perfect Storm (the 1991 Halloween Nor'easter) and a staged version of the island appears in the movie by the same name. The swordfishing boat Andrea Gail, the main focus of the film, is believed to have gone down somewhere near Sable Island in 100'+ storm waves. The 406-Megahertz EPIRB emergency beacon identified as belonging to the Andrea Gail, was found washed ashore on Sable Island on either November 5 or November 8, 1991, according to different sources.
- Nova Scotian author Thomas H. Raddall's early experiences on Sable Island served as the inspiration for his novel The Nymph and the Lamp. [1]
- In the 2006 Canadian federal election media coverage, the Canadian Press reported a 100% voter turnout for Sable Island, with six ballots from all six permanent residents retrieved by the returning officer via Coast Guard helicopter.[citation needed]
[edit] Bibliography
- Sable Island Shipwrecks: Disaster and Survival at the North Atlantic Graveyard by Lyall Campbell, Nimbus pub., ISBN 1-55109-096-1, December 2001
- Ethos of Voice in the Journal of James Rainstorpe Morris from the Sable Island Humane Station, 1801-1802, by Rosalee Stilwell, ISBN 0-7734-7663-6, Edwin Mellen Press, January 2001
- Sable Island, by Bruce Armstrong, ISBN 0-385-13113-5, Doubleday, July 1981
- Wild Horses of Sable Island, by Zoe Lucas, ISBN 0-919872-73-5, Firefly Books Ltd., August 1992
- Wild and Beautiful Sable Island, Pat Keough et al., ISBN 0-9692557-3-X, Green Publishing, September 1993
- Sable Island Journals 1801-1804, by James Rainstorpe Morris, ISBN 0-9689245-0-6
- A Dune Adrift: The Strange Origins and Curious History of Sable Island, by Marq de Villiers and Sheila Hirtle, ISBN 0-7710-2642-0, McClelland & Stewart, August 2004
[edit] External links
- Tales of Tragedy and Triumph: Canadian Shipwrecks, a virtual museum exhibition at Library and Archives Canada
- Sable Island Green Horse Society
- Sable Island Preservation Trust
- Ships of War lost on the Coast of Nova Scotia and Sable Island, during the Eighteenth Century
- Pictures of Sable Island Horses
- Sable Island - Satellite View - Google Maps
