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	Topics Sable Island Topic Home 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 shelfContinental shelf The continental shelf is the extended perimeter of each continent, which is covered during interglacial periods such as the ... which, in tandem with the area's frequent fog and sudden strong storms including hurricanes and northeasters, have caused over 350 recorded shipwreckShipwreck A shipwreck is the remains of a ship after it has sunk or been beached as a result of a crisis at sea.... s. It is often referred to as the Graveyard of the Atlantic, as it sits astride the great circleGreat circle A great circle is a circle on the surface of a sphere that has the same circumference as the sphere, and divides the sphere ... route from North America's east coast to EuropeEurope Europe is one of the seven traditional continents of the Earth.... . The nearest landfall is 160 kilometres to the northwest near CansoCanso, Nova Scotia Canso is a small Canadian town in Guysborough County, on the north-eastern tip of mainland Nova Scotia. ... , Nova Scotia. Sable Island was named after its sandSand Sand is an example of a class of materials called granular matter.... —sable is FrenchFrench language French is the third-largest of the Romance languages in terms of number of native speakers, after Spanish and Portuguese, b... for “sand”. It is covered with grassGrass Grass generally describes a monocotyledonous green plant in the family Poaceae, botanically regarded as true grasses.... and other low-growing vegetation. 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 believed to have formed from large quantities of sand and gravelTerminal moraine A terminal moraine, also called end moraine, is a moraine that forms at the end of the glacier called the snout.... deposited on the continental shelf near the end of the last ice ageIce age An ice age is a period of long-term downturn in the temperature of Earth's climate, resulting in an expansion of the contine... . 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 CurrentLabrador Current The Labrador Current is a cold current in the north Atlantic Ocean which flows from the Arctic Ocean south along the coast o... and the warm Gulf StreamFacts About Gulf Stream The Gulf Stream, together with its northern extension, the North Atlantic Drift, is a powerful, warm, and swift Atlant... . 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 IslandCape Sable Island, Nova Scotia Cape Sable Island is a small Canadian island located at the southernmost point in Nova Scotia, Cape Sable.... in southwestern Nova Scotia. Wildlife The island is home to over 300 free-roaming feral horseFeral horse Feral horses are free-roaming, untamed horses descended from domesticated horses.... s 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 AcadianAcadian The Acadians are the descendants of the original French settlers of parts of the northeastern region of North America compr... s during the Great Expulsion and left on the island by Boston merchant Thomas Hancock, uncle of John HancockJohn Hancock Joseph Raymond McCarthy was a Republican Senator from the U.S.... . In the past, excess horses have been rounded up and shipped off the island for use in coal mines on Cape Breton IslandFacts About Cape Breton Island Cape Breton Island is an island on the Atlantic coast of North America.... , 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 interfere with any of the island's wildlife because it is a wildlife preserve and is protected by the Canadian government. HarbourCommon Seal The Common Seal, Harbor Seal or Harbour Seal, *Phoca vitulina* is a true seal of the Northern Hemisphere... and Grey sealGrey Seal The Grey Seal is found on both shores of the North Atlantic Ocean.... s also breed on the island's shores. Seal counts from the 1960s for the grey seal population estimated 200-300 pups born at that time on the island, but surveys from as recent as 2003-2004 estimated the number of pups born in that season at 50,000! Several large bird colonies are also resident; Arctic ternArctic Tern The Arctic Tern is a seabird of the tern family Sternidae.... s, and Ipswich sparrows (Passerculus sandwichensis princeps), a subspecies of the Savannah SparrowSavannah Sparrow The Savannah Sparrow, Passerculus sandwichensis, is a small sparrow.... that breed in no other location. Many other species of birds are found on the island - some are intentional visitors, migratory or otherwise, but some are simply small birds that have been blown out to sea in violent storms and have been fortunate enough to find themselves on Sables shores. There is also a species of freshwater sponge (Heteromeyenia macouni) found only in ponds on the island. History The PortuguesePortugal Overview Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic is located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula, and is the w... explorer João Álvares FagundesJoão Álvares Fagundes Joo lvares Fagundes, an explorer and ship owner from Viana do Castelo in Northern Portugal, near Galicia, organized several ... and his expedition, who explored this region in 1520–1521, may have been among the first Europeans 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 lighthouseLighthouse An aid for navigation and pilotage at sea, a lighthouse is a tower building or framework sending out light from a system of ... s, one on the eastern tip and one on the western tip were built in 1872. 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 CompanyMarconi Company The Marconi Company Ltd. was founded by Guglielmo Marconi in 1897 as the Wireless Telegraph & Signal Company.... established a wireless station on the island and the Canadian government similarly established a weather station. Although the Canadian Coast GuardCanadian Coast Guard The Canadian Coast Guard or CCG is the coast guard of Canada.... (CCG) has now automated the light stations, Environment Canada and DFO conduct routine atmospheric and meteorological 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 CanadaConstitution of Canada The Constitution of Canada is the supreme law in Canada.... of 1867 as being the special responsibility of the federal governmentGovernment of Canada The Government of Canada is the name of the federal government of Canada.... . For this reason it is considered a separate amateur radioAmateur radio Amateur radio, often called ham radio, is a hobby and public service enjoyed by about 3 million people throughout the ... "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 ForcesCanadian Forces The Canadian Forces , abbreviated as CF are the combined armed forces of Canada.... continuously patrol the area using aircraft and naval vessels, partly due to the nearby presence of natural gasNatural gas Natural gas, commonly referred to as gas, is a gaseous fossil fuel consisting primarily of methane.... and oilPetroleum Petroleum or crude oil is a black, dark brown or greenish liquid found in porous rock formations in the earth.... drilling rigs and an undersea pipelinePipeline transport Summary Pipeline transport is a transportation of goods through a pipe.... . Sable Island's heliport also contains emergency aviation fuel for search and rescueSearch and rescue Search and rescue is an operation mounted by emergency services, often well-trained volunteers, to find someone believed to ... 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 ProjectSable Offshore Energy Project The Sable Offshore Energy Project is a consortium to locate and produce natural gas located near Sable Island on the edge of... . The island is a part of the Halifax Regional MunicipalityFacts About Halifax Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia Halifax Regional Municipality, commonly referred to as HRM, is a Canadian regional municipality, the largest populatio... , the federal electoral district of HalifaxHalifax (electoral district) Halifax is a federal electoral district in Nova Scotia, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons s... , and the provincial electoral district of Halifax CitadelHalifax Citadel Overview Halifax Citadel is a provincial electoral district in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, that elects one member of the Nova Scoti... , although the urban area of Halifax proper is some 300 km or 190 mi away on the Nova Scotian mainland. Shipwrecks Sable Island is famous for the large number of shipwrecks. An estimated 350 vessels are believed to have fallen victim to the island's sand bars. Thick fogs, treacherous currents and the island's location in the middle of a major transatlantic shipping route and rich fishing grounds account for the large number of wrecks. The first recorded wreck was in 1583, the last in 1999. Few wrecks are visible on the island as the ships are usually crushed and buried by the sand. The large number of wrecks have earned the island the nickname "Graveyard of the Atlantic", although the phrase is also used to describe Cape CodCape Cod Cape Cod is an arm-shaped peninsula forming the Easternmost portion of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, in the Northeaster... and the Outer Banks area of North CarolinaGraveyard of the Atlantic Graveyard of the Atlantic is a name given to the treacherous waters in the Atlantic Ocean along the Outer Banks of North Car... . 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 CanadaMeteorological Service of Canada The Meteorological Service of Canada is a division of Environment Canada, which primarily provides public meteorological in... ; an aerologyAerology Aerology is the study of Earth's atmosphere.... program measuring conditions in the upper atmosphere using radiosondeRadiosonde A radiosonde is a unit for use in weather balloons that measures various atmospheric parameters and transmits them to a fix... 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 ozoneOzone Ozone is a triatomic molecule, consisting of three oxygen atoms.... 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 SurveyBritish Geological Survey Summary The British Geological Survey is a partly publicly-funded body which aims to advance geoscientific knowledge of the United K... , 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 fieldMagnetic field In physics, a magnetic field is that part of the electromagnetic field that exists when there is a changing electric 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. Trivia Sable Island is mentioned in the book The Perfect StormThe Perfect Storm *The Perfect Storm* is a book written by Sebastian Junger and published by Little, Brown and Company in 1997.... (the 1991 Halloween Nor'easter1991 Halloween Nor'easter The 1991 Halloween Noreaster, also known as the Perfect Storm, was an unusual and very powerful nor'easter combining a... ) and a staged version of the island appears in the movie by the same name. The swordfishing boat Andrea GailAndrea Gail The F/V *Andrea Gail* was a commercial fishing vessel lost at sea during the so-called "Perfect Storm" of 1991.... , 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. In the 2006 Canadian federal electionCanadian federal election, 2006 The 2006 Canadian federal election was held on January 23, 2006, to elect members of the 39th Parliament of the Canadian Hou... media coverage, the Canadian PressCanadian Press The Canadian Press is a Canadian news agency established in 1917 as a vehicle to permit Canadian newspapers of the day to ex... 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. 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 External links , a virtual museum exhibition at Library and Archives Canada cript>