Reviewed by Lee Bumsted

We tend to think of islands as fixed in one place. Sable Island, 100 miles [160 kilometers] off the southern coast of Nova Scotia, refuses to stay put. Its propensity to change shape and location contributed to it being the site of hundreds of shipwrecks over the past 400 years, as ships sailed the Great Circle Route from New England to Europe.

Sable Island's mysterious shape-shifting is linked to its composition. Sable is the French word for sand. “This is just a beach in the middle of nowhere attached to nothing and apropos of nothing, a beach attached to nothing but beach,” write Marq de Villiers and Sheila Hirtle in their new book. In A Dune Adrift: The Strange Origins and Curious History of Sable Island, they deftly weave together natural history and human history. They describe what natural forces influence the island's topography, what people, plants, and animals inhabit it and where it may be headed.

Where this isolated island may be headed is subject to some conjecture. The authors state that it appears to be much smaller than in historic times, and it seems to be moving eastward, toward the edge of the continental shelf. They express concern that the crescent-shaped island, which is approximately 30 miles [48 kilometers] along its arc, might someday disappear entirely.

De Villiers and Hirtle ask of Sable Island, “Why doesn't it just wash away?” They describe how the island is routinely hammered by ocean currents and Atlantic gale winds, and how these natural forces move the beaches and dunes. Shifting sands have forced the relocation of the western lighthouse four times since 1873, for instance. Sand movement does not always result in a net loss; sometimes sand is picked up by the currents and redeposited elsewhere on the island. They report that there are even signs that the island may be growing.

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-1980’s.

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.

 © 2004 The Gulf of Maine Times