Sable Island
National Park Reserve 300km Off Nova Scotia; A 42km Crescent Of Sand Carrying About 500 Wild Horses, The World'S Largest Breeding Colony Of Grey Seals, And The Wrecks Of Some 350 Ships · Sable Island, Nova Scotia
Three hundred kilometres out into the Atlantic from Halifax there is a crescent of sand forty-two kilometres long and at no point much more than a kilometre wide, with no trees, no harbour and no shelter of any kind. About THREE HUNDRED AND FIFTY SHIPS have been wrecked on it, which is why it has been called the Graveyard of the Atlantic, and why Canada has kept people stationed on it more or less continuously since 1801. ABOUT FIVE HUNDRED WILD HORSES live there, descended from animals landed in the 1760s, legally protected since 1960 and left entirely alone - they are not managed, fed, vetted or handled. The island also carries the world's largest breeding colony of grey seals, with tens of thousands hauling out to pup in winter. It became a national park reserve in 2013, and it remains one of the hardest places in Canada to visit: fixed-wing landings on the beach, weather-dependent, capacity-limited, and requiring Parks Canada authorisation obtained well in advance.
Sable Island National Park Reserve, 300km south-east of Halifax, Atlantic Ocean, Sable Island, Nova Scotia, Canada
VISITING IS BY PARKS CANADA AUTHORISATION ONLY AND THE PRACTICAL SEASON IS SHORT - roughly JUNE TO OCTOBER, when fixed-wing aircraft can land on the beach and charter vessels can reach the island. THERE IS NO SCHEDULED SERVICE, NO ACCOMMODATION FOR VISITORS, NO SHOP AND NO HARBOUR. Every trip is arranged through a licensed operator - a fixed-wing charter, or a cruise or sailing vessel standing offshore with zodiac landings - and EVERY VISITOR MUST REGISTER WITH AND BE AUTHORISED BY PARKS CANADA IN ADVANCE, with capacity deliberately limited. DAY VISITS ARE THE NORM: you land, you are accompanied, and you leave the same day. THE WEATHER DECIDES EVERYTHING - fog, wind and surf cancel landings constantly, and a trip booked is not a trip made. Costs commonly run into several thousand dollars per person.