Re: So, Who will save Sable Island    

Letter to Toronto Globe & Mail, October 14, 2004

Canada's contribution to international science depends in part on our ability to make use of unique opportunities. Sable Island provides just such an opportunity and has been well used; a recently compiled summary of scientific papers resulting from work on the island listed well over 150 publications (and another 50 theses and reports) on subjects including atmospheric research, ecology and pollution, flora and vegetation, invertebrates, fishes, birds, marine mammals, and horses. Zoe Lucas is right in describing the cost of maintaining and protecting the facilities that make this science possible as "the bargain of the century". Such a vulnerable, unique and beautiful ecosystem, with the added feature of being an entrée into otherwise impossible research into environmental and conservational topics, deserves all the protection and support that we can give it.

Keith J. Betteridge

Guelph, Ontario