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Most of the old horses die of starvation, and mostly in winter. The tough marram grasses they live on get covered with snow in winter, and it takes an industrious animal to look for the tender shoots underneath. Fortunately strong winds shift the sand and snow so this sometimes uncovers grasses. But a horse’s teeth continue to grow for only 6 years and then they stop. The enormous amount of sand they ingest as they munch marram grass wears down their teeth. By their mid teens the horses have little left with which to grind the grass into something edible, and so they starve. But this is as Nature intended. For their lifespan these horses run wild and free. They huddle together in the harsh winters, and they run along the beach on fine summer days. They are safe from predators, and their fights for mares do little more than run off the loser. If horses can be considered ‘happy’, I am sure these horses of Sable Island are happy!
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Harp seals, harbor seals, gray seals, and many
seabirds make this island their home and breeding place.
Marram, wild cranberries, and several varieties of scrub grass
cover the sand on this remote island.
There is only one small tree on Sable Island!
Rainfall lands in low interior areas creating freshwater ponds, and
providing drinking water for the horses and a place for them to cool off
on hot, summer days. In
olden days there were many animals introduced to the island, such as pigs,
sheep, foxes, deer, cattle, and rabbits.
But as we now know, Nature has a plan, and when mankind interferes,
there is chaos. The pigs took
over the island and got wild, so foxes were brought in to kill them off.
They did, and took out the sheep with them! The deer and cattle eventually died off because the
vegetation did not supply their nutritional needs.
Rabbits multiplied multifold, and eventually hunters had to be
brought in to kill the rabbits and foxes.
At lasts there was peace, and balance!
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The seal colonies on Sable are one of the major
breeding areas in the world, but in recent years the number of seal pups
born has decreased markedly. From
over 300 births per year the number has dropped to less than 40.
Many seal adults and juveniles were found dead on the beaches,
killed by a sea predator. Corkscrew
marks and a clean, circular slash were the only marks of the killer, and
finally the Greenland shark (a rarity in these waters) was found to be the
culprit. But in the last two
years there are fewer sightings of dead seals and it is thought that the
shark has died or gone elsewhere. Now
the seals have a chance to increase their numbers to the once-grand
display they maintained years ago.
Regular folks like us are not permitted to visit Sable Island because of its delicate ecosystem. A few scientists stay on the island year round, and one woman, Zoe Lucas, has been there for 30 years. Most people visiting Sable are there to take readings and maintain the few structures on the island. They may stay for a few weeks or months, and then return to the mainland. Sable Island’s foundation is not solid, since the sand is over 80% quartz—and, hence, slippery!—so structures must be built with special care, and placed some distance apart, in specific locations. Sands shift in the wind, and in olden days the sand was known to completely cover up a two-story house, over time.
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Roads must be used for a short period and then
‘moved’ to another location or else the sea washes in over the
depressed area and erodes the island.
Without constant maintenance buildings are destroyed by salt, wind,
and sand. The landing strip is the beach, and STOL planes (Short Take
Off and Landing) are the only types of aircraft that can land on Sable.
Before leaving the mainland they call ahead to get the current
weather and beach conditions or else they may not be able to land.
Major supplies and machinery are brought to Sable once a year by a
ship anchored far from the island. From
there they are airlifted by helicopter to the island, where there is one
helipad and a backup. For
large items, like fuel tanks, they are floated ashore by barge.
The STOL planes bring the remainder of food supplies, mail, and
incidentals once a month.
Life on Sable is for only a very few.
The horses have adapted and are now a hardy breed.
Seals are surviving their huge losses.
But for humans, Sable Island is only suitable for a certain kind of
individual. The ever-present
sand in one’s hair, eyes, nose, and mouth, the almost constant howling
winds, the fog and turbulent seas, and the isolation, make this an eerie
yet mystical place. For
people like Zoe Lucas, it is home. For
the rest of us it is only a dream.
V. (c) copyright
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