Sable Island

Did You Know?

• Only two people have been born on Sable Island since 1920.
• Sable Island is specifically mentioned in the Constitution Act, 1867, as a special responsibility of the federal government.

History

The expedition of Portuguese explorer João Álvares Fagundes explored this region in 1520–1521 and was among the first Europeans to encounter the island. He likely named it "Fagunda" after himself, though the identification of Sable Island with Fagunda is uncertain. The island was inhabited sporadically by sealers, shipwreck survivors, and salvagers known as "wreckers". In 1598, Troilus de La Roche de Mesgouez attempted to colonize the treeless and stoneless island with convicts and soldiers; most died in a mutiny, but a few survived in mud dwellings for five years before returning to France in 1603.

An estimated 350 vessels have fallen victim to the island's sand bars, due to thick fogs, treacherous currents, and its location on a major transatlantic shipping route and rich fishing grounds. The first recorded wreck was the English ship in 1583, part of Humphrey Gilbert's expedition to Newfoundland. At least three shipwrecks occurred in the 1700s: in 1736, Reverend Robert Dunlap wrecked on the island; in November 1760, Major Robert Elliot of the 43rd regiment was shipwrecked and rescued in January 1761; and in November 1778, Lieutenant Anthony Kennedy and 25 men wrecked, with two dying and the remainder rescued the following April.

In June 1801, the Quaker leader Seth Coleman was dispatched to Sable Island by Lt. Gov. John Wentworth to remove a man and woman of wicked character who had been landed on the island for plundering, robbing and causing shipwrecks. The construction of lighthouses on each end of the island in 1873 likely contributed to the decrease in shipwrecks. The last major shipwreck was the steamship USS Manhasset in 1947, her crew all saved. After the 1991 Perfect Storm, the EPIRB of the Andrea Gail was discovered on the shore of Sable Island on November 6, 1991, nine days after the last transmission from the crew; no crew members have been found.

In 1999, the three crew members of the yacht Merrimac survived after their sloop ran aground due to a navigational error. On July 12, 2024, the bodies of Briton Sarah Packwood and her Canadian husband Brett Clibbery were found in a lifeboat that washed up on Sable Island; they had left Nova Scotia June 11, 2024, on their sail yacht Theros trying to sail to the Azores and had been reported missing June 18, 2024.

Climate

Sable Island has a Maritime temperate climate (Köppen Cfb) using the -3°C isotherm, or a warm-summer humid continental climate (Köppen Dfb) using the 0°C isotherm, strongly influenced by the sea. Winter temperatures average near freezing, while summer daily maximums average around 20°C. The average annual temperature variation is only 19°C-change, compared to 24.3°C-change at Halifax and 38.9°C-change in Winnipeg. February is the coldest month, August the warmest.

Thunderstorms occur on average 11 days per year. Winter temperatures are the warmest in Canada apart from the Pacific Coast, and snowfall is infrequent before late December, usually lying only a few days. Summers are among the coolest in southern Canada. The island is the most hurricane-prone part of Canada and the only place where Category 3 hurricane-force winds are likely.

The highest recorded temperature was 27.8°C on August 27, 1951; the lowest was -19.4°C on January 31, 1920. According to Atlas Obscura, it lies in hardiness zone 8a.

Vegetation and wildlife

The name Sable Island comes from the French word for sand, and true to that name, the island has no naturally growing trees. Its landscape is covered by marram grass and other low plants. Another attempt in the 1960s left only one Scots pine, which never grew taller than a few feet. Station staff made it a tradition to decorate that tree as a Christmas tree each December, but in recent years it was found dead, ending the last pine on the island.

The island’s plant life is mostly grassland and heathland. American marram grass dominates the grasslands and helps keep the dunes stable. Heath areas contain shrubs like black crowberry, northern bayberry, and creeping juniper. Other plants include Virginia rose, seaside goldenrod, sea pea, and American cranberry.

The harsh spring of 2017 caused a death rate of about 10 percent, though the usual annual rate is around 1 percent, mostly from starvation and hypothermia. These horses likely came from animals taken from Acadians during the Great Expulsion and left on the island by Thomas Hancock. In the early 1800s, patrolmen used the horses to search for shipwrecks and to haul lifeboats and gear to wreck sites.

In popular culture

The landscape, history of shipwrecks, and wildlife have made Sable Island an iconic place in Atlantic Canada. Shipwreck survivors published early survival narratives beginning with the sinking of the Delight in 1583.