Sable Island
| Sable Island | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Waters | Atlantic Ocean |
| Geographical location | 43 ° 56 ′ N , 59 ° 56 ′ W |
_p0187_SABLE_ISLAND.jpg) |
|
| length | 36.2 km |
| width | 1.2 km |
| surface | 34 km² |
| Highest elevation | 40 m |
| Residents | 5 ward staff (2008) <1 inh / km² |
 |
|
Sable Island is an island in the Atlantic Ocean that belongs to the Canadian province of Nova Scotia . The island is so close to the transatlantic shipping routes that it has been one of the most dangerous obstacles since sailing ships crossed the Atlantic. The island is therefore one of the most famous ship cemeteries . Since the introduction of radar on ships, the number of ship accidents on the coast of this island has decreased.
geography
The island, which is about 160 kilometers southeast of Canso on the cape of the same name on the Nova Scotia peninsula and around 290 kilometers east-southeast of Halifax , is one of the most remote places in Canada. It is almost 42 kilometers long, curved in an arc and a maximum of two kilometers wide. The highest dune is 40 meters high. Its area is around 3,400 hectares, which corresponds to 34 square kilometers. The island was originally named île de Sable 'sand island' in French . This name was adopted into English.
The island is administered as part of the City of Halifax and is part of District 13: Northwest Arm - South End and Sable Island .
geology
One theory about the geological formation of the island assumes a lower sea level during the last ice age 11,000 years ago, another thinks it is possible that the sand was pushed so far from the coast by glaciers. Ocean currents and storms make the dunes wander; migrations of up to 44 kilometers have been observed over the past several hundred years.
history
The island is notorious as the "Atlantic cemetery" because since 1583 over 350 shipwrecks on its coast have killed over 10,000 sailors. The reason for this is that the island is very far off the coast and close to shipping routes and fog in this area blocks visibility for a third of the year. The steeply sloping seabed, together with strong winds, can also aggravate the sea. Many of these shipwrecks are still on the island's coast today. European sailors have known this island as Santa Cruz and I. da Crus since the 16th century at the latest . The Portuguese João Alvares Fagundes was the first European to see it in 1521 at the latest. In 1546 the Portuguese cartographer Joannes Freire recorded the island as I. do Sable on a map, and in 1565 the Italian Giacomo Gastaldi as Isolla del Arena .
In March 1598, Troilus du Mesgouez, governor of New France , presented a plan to the French parliament to colonize the island in order to make a profit from fishing and the fur trade. Parliament approved the settlement attempt, but no volunteers were found. Du Mesgouez was finally assigned 50 or 60 prisoners, whom he shipped to the island for a winter in 1598 or 1599 along with about ten soldiers and supplies. The small colony received supplies annually at du Mesgouez's expense. In 1602 he stopped the supply, but in 1603 had a ship approach the island again. At that time only 11 of the settlers were still alive, the rest had killed each other or died of disease.
Other events:
- 1738: The Bishop of Boston , Andrew Le Mercier , sent people and cattle, including horses, to try to colonize the island, but failed - the cattle were stolen by fishermen, the horses feral and reproduced semi-wild.
- 1801: The first rescue station for shipwrecked people was built on the island and operated until 1958.
- 1860: The Canadian-British Allan Line's Hungarian passenger steamer was thrown against the cliffs in a snowstorm off Cape Ledge on the west coast of Sable Island and ran aground. Due to the storm, no rescuers could get to the ship. All 205 passengers and crew members died.
- In 1863 the British passenger steamer Georgia of the National Line (previous owner: Guion Line ) ran aground off Sable Island, all people on board survived.
- 1873: Two lighthouses were built at the ends of the island in the east and west and looked after by two lighthouse keepers. The west tower was relocated in 1883, 1888, 1917 and 1951 due to land erosion.
- 1875: The rescue station was connected to the mainland with a telegraph line.
- In 1879 the British State Line's State of Virginia liner ran aground off Sable Island on June 15, drowning 9 people.
- 1898: South of the island, the French passenger steamer La Bourgogne sinks on July 4, 1898 after colliding with the British cargo sailor Cromartyshire . 565 people die.
- 1958: After eleven years without a shipwreck, the rescue station ceased operations, and the lighthouses were automated.
- 1991: The emergency radio transmitter (EPIRB) of the missing fishing trawler Andrea Gail was found on the shore of Sable Island .
- 1999: North of Sable Island , the first of 28 offshore drilling platforms for gas production from nearby gas fields were built.
- 1999: The last shipwreck so far: three men wanted to sail the “Merrimac” from Newport across the Atlantic to the Azores and had used a map on which Sable Island was not shown. When the depth gauge sounded the alarm, they assumed it was malfunctioning and believed their map, whereupon they stranded on the island on July 27th.
The Canadian Environment Minister Jim Prentice and the Governor of Nova Scotia John MacDonell sign a letter of intent in 2010 to protect the island. The island is to become a national park or a national wildlife area .
nature
natural reserve
The conservation organization Sable Island Preservation Trust takes care of the protection and preservation of the island's nature. In August 2012, the Sable Island National Park was inaugurated. This is managed by Parks Canada .
Wildlife
The island is also known to non-seafarers. Horse lovers are familiar with the Sable Island ponies , semi-wild horses with a population of 250 to 300 free-ranging horses that are descendants of ponies introduced to the island in 1738 that were subsequently feral.
Over 300 species of birds have been observed on the island, 15 of which regularly breed on Sable Island.
There are also five species of seals, two of which raise their young on the island.
Bats were rarely seen.
climate
The island is covered in fog on 125 days a year; These frequent foggy days are also the main reason for the many ship accidents. The Gulf Stream ensures a comparatively mild climate, the warmest is in August with an average of 17 ° C and the coldest in February with an average of −1 ° C. The precipitation varies between 90 and 150 mm per month.
| Sable Island | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Climate diagram | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Average monthly temperatures and rainfall for Sable Island
Source: wetterkontor.de
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
population
The island has been continuously inhabited since 1801. In 1996 there were only three permanent residents on the island: the supervisor Gerry Forbes as well as a technician from the weather station and a craftsman who spent up to six months at a time on the island. In 2008 the island had five permanent residents.
economy
Sable Island is located in one of the richest fishing grounds in the world, which is relevant for Canadian fishing rights . To the north of the island are six gas fields (Venture, South Venture, Thebaud, North Triumph, Glenelg and Alma) with around 85 billion cubic meters of recoverable natural gas. The Sable Offshore Energy Project began offshore development in 1999, and the operation of up to 28 drilling platforms is planned by 2025. The water depth at the platforms is 20 to 80 meters.
Radio station
Because of its seclusion and restricted access, the island is the target of radio amateurs who operate a radio station with the rare radio call sign CY0AA on the island during so-called DXpeditions .
literature
- James Rainstorpe Morris, Rosalee Stilwell: Sable Island Journals 1801-1804. Sable Island Preservation Trust, 2001, ISBN 0-9689245-0-6 . (Diary of James Rainstorpe Morris , first government superintendent of the island, about daily life on the island: agriculture, house and boat building, collecting driftwood, storm, disease and death on the island; English)
- Thomas H. Raddall : The Nymph and the Lamp. Novel. Boston 1950, OCLC 849313 . (The author describes life on the island's Marconi radio station, called "Marina" in the story, as part of a love story. Raddall lived on Sable Island for some time)
Movie
Moving Sands is a 60-minute documentary drama by Phillipe Baylaucq about Sable Island from the point of view of the islander Trixie Bouteilliers , who moved to the island in 1885 as the daughter of the island supervisor and spent her childhood and youth on the island until 1912, when she was 25 years old. The film was shot in 2002 with support from the Sable Island Preservation Trust and premiered on October 13, 2003 at the Atlantic Film Festival in Halifax.
Web links
- About the Sable Island Horses , the Sable Island Green Horse Society
- Information from the Canadian Department of Transportation, Transport Canada, on Sable Island
- Getting to Sable Island (airline)
Individual evidence
- ^ Sable Island, Nova Scotia (NS) Business, Travel, and Local Directory
- ↑ CBC.ca: Sable Island: Criminal colonists settle on deserted island. Retrieved March 13, 2017 .
- ↑ a b c d At the Company's Office - Sad Scenes Enacted by the Friends and Relatives of La Bourgogne; Previous Disasters at Sea. In: The New York Times. July 7, 1898. (query.nytimes.com)
- ↑ a b c The Ships List: The Fleets - List of Steamships and Number of Lives Lost in Atlantic Trade From 1840 to 1892. (theshipslist.com)
- ^ The Ships List: Guion Line. (theshipslist.com)
- ↑ CM Magazine: Moving Sands. Retrieved January 27, 2020 .