Sable Island - History

History

The expedition of Portuguese explorer João Álvares Fagundes explored this region in 1520–1521 and were among the first Europeans to encounter the island. It is likely that he named the island "Fagunda" after himself, but the identification of Sable Island with Fagunda is not certain. A brief attempt at French colonization at the end of the 16th century using convicts failed. The island was inhabited sporadically by sealers, shipwreck survivors, and salvagers known as "wreckers". A life-saving station was established on Sable Island by the Governor of Nova Scotia, John Wentworth, in 1801. The Nova Scotian rescue station began the continuous human presence on the island which continues today. The station grew to include a central station and several lookout posts. The Canadian government took over administration of the station with Confederation in 1867 and added two lighthouses in 1872, one on the eastern tip and one on the western. Until the advent of modern ship navigation, Sable Island was home to the families of the life-saving crews and the lighthouse keepers. In the early 20th century, the Marconi Company established a wireless station on the island and the Canadian government similarly established a weather station. Several generations of island staff were born and raised families of their own on the island, although a decline in shipwrecks gradually reduced the size of the lifesaving community. Only two people have been born on Sable Island since 1920.

Although the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) first automated and eventually decommissioned the light stations, Environment Canada and Department of Fisheries and Oceans conduct routine atmospheric and meteorological studies from a permanently occupied station on Sable Island because of its unique isolated geographic position down-wind from the North American mainland. Sable Island is specifically mentioned in the British North America Act 1867, Part 4, Section 91 as being the special responsibility of the federal government ("...the exclusive Legislative Authority of the Parliament of Canada extends to 9. Beacons, Buoys, Lighthouses, and Sable Island."). For this reason it is considered a separate amateur radio "entity" (equivalent to a country for award credit), and with visiting operations using the special callsign prefix CY0.

Out of concern for preserving the island's frail ecology, as well as sovereignty purposes, all visitors to the island, including recreational boaters, require specific permission from CCG. The Canadian Forces continuously patrol the area using aircraft and naval vessels, partly due to the nearby presence of natural gas and oil drilling rigs and an undersea pipeline. Sable Island's heliport contains emergency aviation fuel for search and rescue helicopters, which use the island to stage further offshore into the Atlantic. Should the need arise, the island serves as an emergency evacuation point for crews aboard nearby drilling rigs of the Sable Offshore Energy Project.

The island is a part of the Halifax Regional Municipality, the federal electoral district of Halifax, and the provincial electoral district of Halifax Citadel, although the urban area of Halifax proper is some 300 km or 190 mi away on the Nova Scotian mainland.

On October 17, 2011, the Nova Scotia government reached a deal with Ottawa to make Sable Island a national park. The news followed an announcement made by the Canadian federal government in May 2010 increasing the level of protection the island receives by transferring governmental control from the Canadian Coast Guard to Parks Canada.