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Book Review:
The authors note that one possible destination for Sable's moving sand is the Gully, about 28 miles [45 kilometers] to the east. The Gully is the largest marine canyon in the western North Atlantic. This past May, it became the second location to be designated a Marine Protected Area by Fisheries and Oceans Canada. The Gully is home to diverse habitats and species, including 21 species of coral and a population of 130 at-risk northern bottlenose whales. In addition to its reputation as the site of numerous shipwrecks, Sable Island is noted for its population of wild horses. De Villiers and Hirtle counter the misconception that the earliest horses were shipwreck survivors. They describe how Sable's horses are similar in genetic makeup to the horses used by Acadian farmers, and how 60 were taken ashore in 1756. These days 200 to 350 horses roam the island. They survive on marram, a salt-tolerant, beach-binding grass, which grows abundantly in the dunes. Grey seals and harbor seals are frequent visitors to the island, as they haul out on its beaches. Sable has important habitat for nesting terns and other seabirds, and provides a stopover for migratory birds. People have been landing on Sable Island, intentionally or not, at least as far back as the 1500's. The authors describe how Portuguese sailors fishing for cod used the island as a supply station. Finding fresh water in abundance on the island, they pastured cattle and pigs on Sable. In 1801, a lifesaving station was established to aid sailors whose ships had run aground. The number of residents has fluctuated, but the island has been inhabited ever since. Continued human habitation is not assured, however. Four to six people staff the Sable Island Station year-round, doing atmospheric and climatological research and monitoring. The station's staff also supplies the infrastructure (such as electricity, water supply and treatment, communications and ground support for aircraft) needed by visitors. University, government and private researchers, as well as media representatives, make the journey to the island, with about 50 to 100 visitors in an average year, according to Zoe Lucas. Lucas is a biologist and naturalist who also lives on Sable nearly year-round, and has since the mid-1980s. There is a chance that the station will be closed down. Lucas reports that the station and its staff are funded by the federal government with help from the provincial government and the offshore energy industry. Their current funding runs out at the end of March 2005, and additional funding has yet to be allocated as of this writing. Lucas told me in an e-mail: If the station closes all researchers will be affected, including me. Very few, if any of us, will be able to continue work on the island. Her Web site, www.greenhorsesociety.com, is a valuable resource for learning more about the island and the research that goes on there. It also has a wealth of photographs of the island, its horses and its plant life. Authors de Villiers and Hirtle live near Port Medway, Nova Scotia, and Hirtle visited Sable Island before writing their latest book. They seem to have an affinity for sand; they co-wrote another book that blended natural and human history, Sahara. Judging from the extensive endnotes and the bibliography in A Dune Adrift, they availed themselves of a great deal of archival information. However, I would have liked to have read more information about present-day life on the island, derived from the authors' personal observations and from interviews. I would have also appreciated more in-depth reporting on current research on Sable's horses, seabirds and marine life. A Dune Adrift provides an engaging portrait of a remarkable place. Hopefully, the station will remain open to welcome those scientists and others fortunate enough to visit this shifting island.
Note the different title in the United States: Sable Island: The Strange Origins and Curious History of a Dune Adrift in the Atlantic © 2004 The Gulf of Maine Times |