Sable Island

 

The Sable Island horses 

Sable island is a small Canadian island situated 300km southeast of Halifax , nova scotia and about 175 km southeast of the closest point of the mainland of nova scotia in the north Atlantic ocean . Notable for its early Canadian history and the sable island horse , the island is protected and managed by parks Canada which must grant permission to any visit . The island is also a protected national park reserve and important bird area . 

The island is notable because of the sable island horses . After surviving centuries of harsh winter , the exact origin of the sable horse is unknown . Some believe they are the ancestors of horses that survived shipwreck , while others claim Norsemen or John Cabot or Portuguese explorers or Acadians had left them on the island . The most popular and likely explanation is that a Boston merchant hired to transport Acadians during the expulsion put the horses on the island .

In 1959 , the Canadian government decided to remove the horses after a particularly harsh winter with the plan to turn most into pet food . Fortunately , thanks to letters written by children from across the country and around the world to then prime minister John Diefenbaker , begging him to leave the horses on the island . Diefenbaker wrote their protection into law with the Canadian shipping act that prohibits any interference or the removal of the sable island horses from the island .

Only sealers , shipwrecked sailors and salvagers ever lived (temporarily) in this hostile environment facing the harsh winds nearly 100 miles offshore . The extreme weather which causes the landscape to constantly change , moving up to 330 feet annually is one of the reasons for more than 350 stranded vessels . 

Another strange thing about the island is that there's  only one tree on the entire island . because of the winds and the soil quality , trees cannot grow on that particular island . The one tree growing there is a scrawny pine tree , that was planted years ago . The tree stands at a mere 3 feet , so if someone were to look at it for the first time they could mistake it for a mere bush . 

The lone tree in Sable Island decorate as a Christmas tree

The sable island is also a bird watches paradise . There are over 350 species of birds recorded there and 16 species are known to breed there . 

The island is also known to move . Some scientists say the island is gradually moving eastwards as it slowly washes away on the west end , while sand builds on the east end , a constant state of flux as the centre of the island moves eastward . Others believe that its centre isn't moving but the island itself is shrinking and might one day disappear. 


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