A Special Place

Sable Island is a unique fragment of Canadian geography and history. As the only exposed portion of the outer continental shelf, Sable Island is an ecological and geological rarity. The high number of endemic organisms found on the Island is another indication of its uniqueness, and not all of the Island’s "biodiversity value" is known - much of its invertebrate fauna has yet to be studied. Furthermore, Sable Island is adjacent to the new Marine Protected Area of the Sable Island Gully - the first MPA in eastern Canada - which is a significant habitat for marine mammals, and, also, the Island is situated in a region of offshore energy exploration, development, and production.

Popular images of Sable Island are of landscapes shaped by wind and water, long sandy beaches, wild horses grazing and galloping over the windswept dunes, seals cavorting in the surf and nursing pups on the beach, extensive colonies of nesting birds, sightings of windblown avian rarities, and vegetation and pond communities providing habitat for rare and endemic organisms. Such natural wonders combined with Sable Island's cultural legacy - the history of shipwrecks and settlements, art and legends - provide a powerful motivation to visit the island. Few places in Canada have so many and varied attractions on such a small landscape.

Sable Island's allure is amplified by the fact that access to the Island has been restricted since the early 1800s. This, combined with its isolated location, has limited the number of people who have visited or worked there. However, the Island has been the subject of more than 20 nature documentaries and museum exhibitions, both in Canada and abroad. For several centuries, media reports about Sable Island events and issues – ranging from ships lost at sea to the development of the offshore energy industry - have engaged and intrigued the public. The Island has been featured in dramas, literature, folk tales and songs, and has a significant place in the history and culture of Atlantic Canada.

As such, there is a demand both to visit Sable Island and to access its artifacts. Cultural and biological artifacts of interest include fragments from shipwrecks and old habitations, sandblasted bottles, walrus bones and horse skulls, rare plants, and sand samples. Sable Island is indeed isolated, but not enough to be inaccessible. It is relatively far offshore, but unlike protected regions elsewhere, there is a good deal of routine activity in the area and there have been many instances in which people passing by on boats or working in waters near Sable Island have come ashore without authorization. It can be reached in fair weather by anyone willing to travel for a day or so by yacht or fishing boat, an option made far more manageable by modern navigation technology such as the global positioning system (GPS).