A Dune Adrift: The Strange Origins and Curious History of Sable Island by Marq de Villiers and Sheila Hirtle was a comprehensive look at this crescent island in the north Atlantic. We learned of Sable’s discovery in the early sixteenth century and the early attempts by cartographers to place it correctly on maps. A series of superintendents has resided on the island since the early 1800’s, giving it a permanent population, albeit a rotating one. The authors made what might be considered a “dry” history accessible when they analyzed the island’s creation (which is relatively recent in geological terms) through the effects of glaciation, winds, and oceanic activity such as waves and currents. I was grateful that diagrams were provided that showed ocean currents, wave and wind patterns because I was able to picture what the authors were writing about.
Over the centuries attempts were made to settle the island and plants, trees and a menagerie of farm animals were all brought over. Only the horses remain of the animals, which survive on the various grasses including marram. The authors dispel the myths about the horses’ origins and conclude that these animals were intentionally brought over, as their genetic record is similar to horses on the Nova Scotian mainland. The horses were definitely not survivors of shipwrecks that swam to shore.
The authors talked to people who are or were inhabitants of the island and they shared their reminiscences as residents, employees, or even as shipwreck survivors. Countless wrecks dot the island’s coastline and we learned of the rescue attempts and tragic losses, often of entire crews. What I found so fascinating is that sometimes a storm will reveal the remains of a ship that had foundered decades ago. Residents told the tales of waking up after a storm to discover that the shifted sands had revealed an exposed hull and masts of a ship that had sunk many years before.
The book ends with an analysis of the island’s future. A narrow sandbar in the middle of the ocean that is often awash with waves and battered by winds might seem to be geologically unstable, however not every expert thinks Sable is so vulnerable. The historical record does show that the island has been wasting away, with its length and width both considerably reduced from centuries ago, and its internal system of lakes and ponds drastically so. All it takes is one catastrophic storm to destroy and submerge the island forever. The authors conclude that Sable Island is probably self-destructive but acknowledge that a massive storm or environmental circumstances that could bring about its end might not happen at all.