Travel

[CatsyCline]

With the past week's events i came upon Sable Island [ Ile de Sable]  Nova Scotia.  As i looked at google earth maps i kept seeing a curved sliver of land surrounded by what looked like shallows, closer to land than the vicinity of the submersible's search area.

Sable Island (literally Island of Sand)  is home to over 400 wild horses,  colonies of seals and other marine life, and many seabirds.

It is basically a long sand bar, about 28 miles long and no more than a mile wide.   There are high dunes and freshwater ponds and the horses graze on the island' s dune grass and wild flowers and grasses,  Only the wildlife and 5 or 6 park rangers with Parks Canada live there.  The sands shift constantly, and Sable Island is vulnerable to sea level rise and global warming.

The area is known as The Graveyard of the Atlantic due to the shoals surrounded the island. There are two lighthouse towers warning of the shallow waters.

[DSD2]

A sandy oasis.

The pictures are beautiful, especially the horses.

Thank you so much for sharing!

[Kachina624]

It sounds similar to some of the barrier islands off the coast of Texas.

[Lilysmom1]

@CatsyCline  I live in Nova Scotia.  Sable Island is located off our coast.  I have been to Sable Island.  The horses (people call them ponies because of their small stature but they are horses) are beautiful.  Sable Island is very cold in winter, windswept and people wear ski goggles because the sand swept by the wind is a hazard to the eyes.

I had a painting commisssioned by an artist that studied Sable Island for years.  See below...

A bit of their history is found here.  Their story is kind of sad.  In difficult winters some perish.  Man's attempt to intervene and provide food is unsuccessful.  Their diet consists of what they are able to find on the barren island and they will not take to food traditionally provided to horse populations.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sable_Island_horse

There is an Environment Canada weather station here and it is a national park.  Like other remote places, they are starting to do tourist trips here but it is quite expensive.  My trip there was career related for scientific purposes.  A very interesting place.

[We rescue cats]

I'm so happy to learn that such places still exist today and that the spots are not being over-run and ruined by tourist's dollars. What a wonderful place this must be. . .

[CatsyCline]

@Lilysmom1      Amazing artist!  Beautiful Painting of a Sable Island "pony".

how wonderful for you to have the chance to visit this fascinating island !    i enjoyed seeing several YouTube videos about Sable Island.

Many Thanks to Parks Canada for working to preserve this precious wild space.