For an isolated bar of sand far from the mainland, Sable Island Sable Island has a long and fascinating cultural history of settlement and visitation Cultural History that spans three centuries. The first documented human visitation to Sable Island was by Portuguese explorers in the early 16th century. Throughout the 1600s and 1700s, several unsuccessful attempts to settle the island were made, but human habitation was generally sparse over this period although various domesticated animals such as horses, cattle, pigs and sheep were left on the island over the years. The island was also occupied seasonally by shipwreck salvagers known as “wreckers.” TOP: S. COFFEN-SMOUT BOTTOM: D. FENTON Historically, there was a great deal of marine traffic in the vicinity of Sable Island. It lies Life-Saving Stations within one of the richest fishing grounds in the In 1801, in an effort to reduce the suffering world, and is near one of the major shipping and loss of life and cargo that resulted from routes between Europe and North America. these frequent shipwrecks, the Nova Scotia Before modern navigation systems were government established the first of multiple developed, rough seas, storms and fog made life-saving stations on the island. By 1895 the island a major hazard to navigation on the there was a large main life-saving station east coast, and since 1583 there have been and four smaller stations along the island’s over 350 recorded shipwrecks on the island, 42-kilometre length, as well as two lighthouses. earning it the title of “Graveyard of the Atlantic.” Shelters for shipwrecked sailors were also built along the coast of the island. Look-out towers and regular horse patrols along the By 1895 there was beaches helped life-saving station staff find ships in distress, but Sable’s far-reaching sand a large main life-saving banks meant floundering ships were often far from shore and rescue operations took a long station and four smaller time (often four to five hours of rowing each way). Each station employed up to six men, stations along the who lived on the island with their families during their years of service. With the advent of island’s 42-kilometre more accurate navigational equipment following the Second World War, shipwrecks on Sable length, as well as became less frequent, and in 1959 the federal government closed the life-saving stations. The two lighthouses. last lighthouse was automated in 1987 and soon afterwards the remaining lightkeeping staff and their families had left the island. PHOTOS: BOTTOM LEFT – D. AuSTIN; BOTTOM RIGHT – MARITIME MUSEUM OF THE ATLANTIC, MP18.173.4; MARITIME MUSEUM OF THE ATLANTIC, MP26.3.16 Main Station infrastructure includes several generators and banks of fuel tanks, a water treatment plant, a mechanic shop, vehicle storage sheds, and staff and visitor accommodations. Recent History Main Station By then, however, other government Main Station is centred on the work of departments and industries had already the Meteorological Service of Canada, established a wide variety of operations but acts as the island’s administrative and on Sable Island. In the early 1890s, a communications centre. Year-round, staff meteorological station was built that expanded collect weather data, coordinate aircraft arrivals over the years to become the current “Main and departures and the transportation of Station” of the island, and is managed freight and personnel, maintain buildings year-round by Environment Canada. During and technical equipment, and provide support the 1960s, Sable Island was a hotspot for for researchers and visitors. Main Station the oil industry, and up to nine oil wells were infrastructure includes several generators and drilled from the surface of the island. The banks of fuel tanks, a water treatment plant, Department of Fisheries and Oceans has a mechanic shop, vehicle storage sheds, and operated a research program on the population staff and visitor accommodations. biology and ecological role of grey seals for Up to six persons live on the island all year over 50 years, and has worked on collaborative but the population of Sable Island increases seal research projects with Dalhousie University. to as many as 25 people at different times A helicopter refuelling station on Sable Island throughout the year as various scientific is maintained by the Canadian Coast Guard groups visit for periods of between one for Search and Rescue operations, and there week and three months. is an emergency landing station for offshore industries, which currently operate four to six natural gas platforms near Sable Island’s shores. Numerous light and telecommunications towers, as well as research facilities and storage sheds, have been built on Sable Island, but the largest cluster of buildings is found at Sable’s Main Station. PHOTOS: TOP – D. FENTON; BOTTom – D. AuSTIN Tourism and Visitation Visitors have been going to Sable Island for centuries, but government restrictions on island visitation (originally imposed to discourage plundering of shipwrecks!) have been in place since the early 1800s. Currently, there is no formalized tourism for Sable Island, and under the Sable Island Regulation of the Canada Shipping Act, all persons wishing to visit the island are required to receive written permission from the Canadian Coast Guard. Travel to Sable Island by boat from Halifax Visitors must have adequate supplies and be takes about 24 hours and there are currently no equipped to completely look after themselves, commercial operators offering trips to Sable and while a number of people may obtain although smaller “expedition” cruise ships permission to visit, cancellations and delays have attempted to visit the island en route to due to weather and other logistical problems other destinations. The shallow waters and are common. strong currents require ships to anchor far Between 50 and 250 tourists visit Sable Island off the island and land passengers with each year. These include artists, photographers, Zodiac-style boats. Wild surf conditions and filmmakers, journalists, federal and provincial heavy fog often make such landings impossible. politicians and officials, fund-raising lottery Over the centuries, inhabitants of and visitors winners, and other interested persons. The to Sable Island have documented their majority of these visits to Sable Island experiences in a variety of ways, and the are day trips. archive of books, watercolours, photographs The options for getting to Sable are limited. and documentary films that explore the beauty A locally operated charter company flies a and mystique of the island grows annually. Britten-Norman Islander airplane to Sable for These works help to build public appreciation a cost of approximately $5000 per (day) trip. of this special place, and give people unable This flight leaves Halifax’s Stanfield International to visit the island an opportunity to understand Airport and takes about 1.5 hours to reach the the history and reality of life on Sable Island. “runway” on Sable’s South Beach. The plane Sources can seat up to seven passengers or a total of Nova Scotia Museum and Green Horse Society websites, Meteo- 1400 lbs. Delays and flight cancellations due rological Society of Canada, Environment Canada, Department of to fog, poor visibility, wind direction and speed Fisheries and Oceans and beach conditions are not uncommon. PHOTOS: TOP LEFT – D. AuSTIN; RIGHT – M. PETERSMANN.