Sable Island has been the focus of human interest and activities for over three centuries. Mapmakers, settlers, fishermen, mariners, shipwreck victims, lifesavers, naturalists and scientists, prospectors, educators, students, artists, journalists and visitors have explored, survived, studied, and otherwise experienced Sable Island—directly, with toes in the sand, or from a distance. For many, their fleeting or long-term encounter with the island was memorable—tragic, perplexing, inspirational, mildly interesting, inconvenient, educational, life-changing, joyous. And through these people and their work, adventures and misadventures, connections with the island extend beyond them and into the lives and communities of others who may not have touched or been touched by Sable Island.
In this series of “Connections”, special moments and lasting impressions are shared by people who have experienced Sable Island first-hand or have a distant, but enduring, relationship with the island.
First Encounter – Jacquelyn Mills, July 2018
Two weeks on Sable Island … a universe contained enables a heart to open Boundless : holding the complexity of being so awake to the magnificent wonders of existence, and to the plastics that wash ashore.
The Best View of the Stars – Kimberley Forsythe, 2018
I arrived on Sable Island in winter 2013—it was certainly like no where else I had ever experienced. I got off a helicopter and one of the first things I was told was: don’t step too close to the seals.
A Moment of Utter and Complete Now – Kelly Toughill, 2018
It was January, probably 2001, when I first visited Sable Island. I arranged to drop in for two days to do a series of stories about the island for the Toronto Star. But the island had other plans for me.
My Grandfather, Born on Sable Island – Noella Brennan Fisher, 2018
My grandfather, Daniel Brennan 1865-1950, was the first registered male child born on Sable Island. The family lived on the island while my great grandfather was with the staff of the life-saving service.
An Island of Wild Horses – Karen Mulhallen, 2018
One day someone said something about an island of horses, an island of wild horses. I might have been five or six, but after that I waited and I waited, and eventually the name of the island appeared.
I Dream of Sable Island – Briana Corr Scott, 2018
When my first attempt to visit the island was cancelled (rains washed out the runway) I wrote about all I dreamed of seeing on Sable. Months later, the words came to life when I finally arrived – magical.
A Summer Job on Sable Island – Dominique Gusset, 2017
By the end of the month, I felt so immersed in the rhythms of this island environment, where the forces of nature seemed barely influenced by humans, that I felt humbled, and didn’t want to go home.
Remembering Sable Island – Susan Crowe, 2017
As the plane descends, I can see dark shapes twisting and turning in the turquoise. But for the lack of trees, I could almost believe this crescent shape was home to talking birds and tiny pied fish.
A Barren Yet Thriving Environment – Mike Maurice, 2017
In 2017, I worked on Sable for the Met Service as an Aerological Observer. A favorite experience was a radiosonde balloon launch in relatively high winds when there was a storm ripping up the east coast.
Just a Gray Bird – Andy Horn, 2017
The Ipswich Sparrow, Sable Island’s endemic songbird, named for the place where it was first discovered in Ipswich, Massachusetts, just a few miles from where I first saw my first, but a century before.
A Favourite Feeling of Sable Island – Isabelle MacDonald, 2017
I lived on Sable Island for three months, working for the Meteorological Service. I’d never had a desire to visit the island, as so many people do, but fell in love with the place during my time there.
Lonely at times, inspiring more often – Brent Kempton, 2012
I was a Met Tech on Sable Island in 1978-79—a 13-month stint, then one month off, and then another 11 months on the island. I had arrived, green as grass and wide-eyed, thinking, “What have I done?”
