The items on this page are a collection of updates, reports, and notes on Sable-related events and activities, and short accounts about selected features of the island’s natural and human history, operations, and cultural life. Some predate the establishment of the Sable Island National Park Reserve in 2013, and of these a number were previously published in the website of the Friends of the Green Horse Society.
Some of the articles are “news”, while others provide some background details about people, projects, programs and operations both on and off the island—all slices of life and times of Sable Island.
Events
A Trip to Sable Island with Kattuk Expeditions!
A Sable Island Institute fundraising raffle for seats on a helicopter day-trip to Sable Island in mid-October 2024.
Sable Island Update 2023, a Public Meeting
Presented by the Sable Island Institute (SII). An evening at Saint Mary’s – speakers, Q & A, followed by a reception (refreshments and conversation). All are welcome. Admission is free.
Win Trips to Sable Island with Kattuk Expeditions, 2023
A Sable Island Institute fundraising raffle for seats on a helicopter day-trip to Sable Island in early October 2023.
Sable Island Update, November 24, 2022
Arts, science, and news about Sable Island and the Sable Island Institute. This public meeting continues the popular series of updates held at Saint Mary’s University. Admission is free.
Sable in Words
Sable in Words 2023 – Contest Winners
Announcing the winners! Thanks to everyone who submitted stories and essays, and to the team and supporters who made it a success. Watch for the next contest in January 2024!
Sable in Words 2023 – Writing Contest for Nova Scotia Youth
5th Annual Writing Contest. Prizes for stories about Sable Island! If you live in Nova Scotia, are 10 – 13 or 14 – 17, and are interested in the island, you could be a winner! Entries due April 14, 2023.
Sable in Words 2022 – Contest Winners
Announcing the winners! Thanks to everyone who submitted stories and essays, and to the team and supporters who made it a success. Watch for the next contest in January 2023!
Sable in Words 2022 – Writing Contest for Nova Scotia Youth
Prizes for creative prose about Sable Island! If you live in Nova Scotia, are 10 to 13 or 14 to 17, and are interested in the island, you could be a winner! Entries due by April 15, 2022.
Arts
A Young Artist’s Sable Island Landscapes
Three watercolour paintings by 12-year-old Laurie illustrate features of the island’s landscape and wildlife, expressing a sense of the energy of sand dunes, waves, grey seals, ponds and horses.
An Artist on Sable Island – Roger Savage’s Field Trip, Autumn 2005
Roger works outdoors to capture the spontaneity of nature’s light and shadow. As fog rolls in or clouds blow over the landscape, patterns of light alter and shift, changing colours and reshaping landforms.
Sable Island Talk at Argyle Fine Art, in Halifax, June 20th, 2018
On June 20th (Wednesday) 6:30-8:30 pm, Argyle Fine Art will host a free talk with artist Briana Corr Scott and marine biologist Nell den Heyer about their experiences in art and science on Sable Island.
The Sable Effect Continues, Susan Tooke, 2018
None of us ever know what is around the corner, or what can change our life’s work. In 2007, I was contacted by Red Deer Press about illustrating Free as the Wind: Saving the horses of Sable Island.
Operations
Helicopter Refuelling Facility on Sable Island
Since 1801 Sable Island has provided safe haven for shipwreck victims, and during the past six decades, has served as an emergency landing and/or refuelling site for helicopters, including SAR.
Clean up of an old fuel cache at East Light in 2005
On Sable Island, the remains of old stations, communication towers and other activities, discontinued for many decades or longer, are exposed as wind scours sand away from previously buried infrastructure.
Disposal of Hazardous Ordnance on Sable Island in August 2005
An Explosive Ordnance Disposal team from Canadian Forces Base Shearwater arrived on Sable Island to dispose of a few years worth of beached, and potentially dangerous, Marine Location Markers (MLMs).
Sealift, Dominion Diving, Sable Island, October 2012
In late October 2012, after an 18-hour sail from Country Harbour, Nova Scotia, the Dominion Victory and a barge loaded with equipment and supplies arrived at Sable Island to begin a sealift.
Natural History
Noctuid Moths and Marram Grass on Sable Island
Moth larvae, which may have an ecological role on the island far bigger than their tiny size suggests, will be the focus of the Sable Island Institute’s first major terrestrial research program on the island.
Ipswich Sparrow – Resighting Survey for Banded Sparrows on Sable Island
In a study of life stages and survival, researchers are banding sparrows on Sable Island and on the Delmarva Peninsula with combinations of coloured plastic leg bands that identify individual birds.
Birds with Bling – Banding Ipswich Sparrows
To really understand animals, we need to know them as individuals. Bird legs provide a flagpole for coloured bands that can be seen from many metres away and enable researchers to track individual birds.
The Petrels of Sable Island
Leach’s Storm-petrels were first recorded nesting on Sable Island in July 1994. Their vocalizations are now part of the nighttime soundscape of summer as petrels circle and swoop bat-like in the dark.
Sable Island Institute
A Tale of Two Gatehouses
The Institute is presently headquartered in a building with an intriguing history, the Gatekeeper’s Lodge in Point Pleasant Park, built in 1896 and modelled after Wycombe Lodge in Buckinghamshire, England.
Beach Monitoring Program, Sable Island, 2019
Shoreline surveys for marine litter, entangled seals, oiled seabirds, tar balls, and beached cetaceans can provide a wealth of information about environmental trends and the impacts of marine pollution.
The Sable Island Institute at Point Pleasant Park
The Gatekeeper’s Lodge was last used as the park superintendent’s residence in 1996. Since spring 2017, the house has been base of operations for the Institute during the first phase of its development.
Marine Litter Brand Audit, Sable Island, September 2018
Although the island is not as fouled as many other locations, marine debris is abundant, with some plastic containers originating in Brazil, Cuba, Haiti, Japan, Malaysia, South Africa, France, and Russia.
People
Joyce Barkhouse, Author
The book Pit Pony, written by Joyce Barkhouse, is about a young coal miner and his companion, a Sable Island horse. Joyce won many awards for her writing, and Pit Pony is the most beloved of all her works.
Return to Sable Island, Spring 2008 – Cindy Clancey
I imagined it as it was when we lived here: the beacon slowly turning, grey wooden swings, clothes flapping on lines, chickens in the yard, and adults busy with chores while children played in the sand.
The Sunroom Museum – A Glimpse of Sable Island
Many people in Nova Scotia have small collections of Sable Island curios, but much of Herb’s appreciation and joy in his collection is the opportunity to share the items and their stories with visitors.
Miscellany
Beached on Sable Island, Artifacts with Missing Stories
Occasionally odd and interesting manmade items have washed ashore on Sable Island. The origin and/or purpose of most can be identified, but some are puzzling, such as miniature boats and wooden barrels.
A Mysterious Light in the Sable Sky, October 2016
On a clear night Wayne Broomfield set up his tripod and took a series of photos. Later, when he examined the images, he saw a shape like a spinning top glowing in the sky above the Sable Island Station.
A Journey to Sable Island with Adventure Canada, June 2016
The visitor experience was well organized, and Adventure Canada staff were quick to help people have a great time. For many it was the trip of a lifetime, “a lifelong dream” fulfilled.
Seasons & Weather
Sable Island Notes, Late March to mid-April 2020 – Zoe Lucas
Since I was on the island when the national parks were closed, I was able to stay and continue work on some of the Institute’s projects. For the island itself, it has been a mostly normal spring so far.
MSC’s Aerological Program Ends After 75 Years of Service – WSA Sable Island 1944-2019
The station’s last balloon and radiosonde were launched at 8:15 pm on August 20th 2019. As the balloon went quietly up into the dark on a foggy night, so ended Sable Island’s upper air program.
Roll Clouds of Sable Island
A roll cloud is a rare, and often spectacular, meteorological phenomenon. Since 1976, there have been six reports of roll clouds passing over the island. The most recent was this summer, on July 9th.
First Morning of Spring 2019 on Sable Island
This year the spring equinox (also called the vernal equinox) occurred during early evening on March 20th. The first full day of spring for 2019, March 21st, dawned clear and cool on Sable Island.
Winter Solstice, December 21st, 2018
The Sable Island Institute wishes all Sable Island’s personnel, friends, and supporters the very best for a happy and healthy winter 2018-2019.
Fall Colours on Sable Island, September-October 2018
During autumn, the island’s landscape becomes a tapestry of silvery-white, pale yellow, tan, amber, buffy, sienna, orange, red and purple, with the bright greens of juniper and crowberry woven throughout.
