Sable Island: The Graveyard of The North Atlantic

 About 300 km east of Halifax, Nova Scotia, lies a narrow, crescent-shaped sandbar, the existence of which has been a restriction on shipping for centuries. The sickle-shaped island lies midway between a major transatlantic shipping route and rich fishing grounds. Additionally, the island is surrounded by dangerous currents and is often shrouded in dense fog. In the past, due to limitations in navigation technology, ships routinely ran aground on sandbars and were destroyed by the strong waves in the area. The sea floor around the island is littered with the remains of ships sunk during storms, earning the island the nickname "The Graveyard of the North Atlantic".

An engraving from the Ballou's Pictorial, a Boston newspaper, depicting the wreck of the Arcadia on Sable Island. Photo: Maritime Museum of the Atlantic

The first European to encounter Sable Island was the Portuguese explorer João Álvares Fagundes in 1520–21. He named this island Phagunda after himself. Later, the island appeared on Portuguese maps under different names—Santa Cruz, Barcelos, and Isola dela Reina. The name Sable Island (after the French word sable, or "sand") first appeared in the early 1600s.

Sable Island is approximately 40 kilometers long and only 1.2 kilometers wide at its widest point. Apart from the visible part, the sand walls extend for about 30 kilometers at either end. The fierce ocean currents flowing around the island cause sand to shift, causing the island's outline to constantly change. Additionally, when warm air from the Gulf Stream collides with cooler air from the Labrador Current, it creates a dense fog that shrouds the island 125 days a year.

Before modern navigation instruments, the sextant was the principal instrument used to fix a ship's position. Although accurate, a sextant only works when the Sun or stars are visible. They became useless when there was dense fog or cloud cover. In bad weather, a ship's captain navigated by dead reckoning, where the ship's speed and direction were used to estimate the ship's position. But even in the best case, it was an educated guess. Many shipwrecks occurred because the captain misjudged his position and accidentally hit the island.

There were neither trees nor any shelter in Sable Island. Once the ship sank, the survivors had little hope of rescue. It is believed that hundreds of men, women and children were killed on Sable Island.

To save as many lives as possible and protect as much property as possible, the British government established an organization called the Humane Establishment on Sable Island in 1801 to help ships in distress. Two rescue stations were established, one at each end of the island, which were permanently staffed by establishment staff whose job it was to help shipwreck survivors if needed. Warning flagpoles were erected, and beach patrols were enforced. Light stations were eventually established in the late 1800s, although they had to be relocated as the sand beneath them shifted.

The establishment's employees found it difficult to live on Sable Island. The establishment often faced financial and supply shortages, resulting in the constant threat of starvation. This escalated when additional people were brought in from the wreck, putting pressure on the island's already depleted supplies.

Despite the hardships, many workers remained on the island for years, raising families and even giving birth to children. Improvements in navigation led to a dramatic decline in shipwrecks by the mid-20th century. Thus, the rescue station at Sable was downsized and eventually closed in 1958. The last major shipwreck was the steamship Manhasset in 1947. All her crew were saved. There were no further accidents until 1999, when three crew members of the ferry Merrimack were stranded due to a navigational error.

Sable Island is currently staffed by three government employees year-round who manage the weather station there. Apart from them, the only other permanent inhabitants of the island are its wild horses. These horses were brought to the island in the 18th century, and were used by the Humane Establishment to patrol the island, searching for ships in distress. The animals also carried lifeboats and equipment to shipwreck sites.