Sable Island Institute
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sable-institute.bsky.social
Sable Island Institute
@sable-institute.bsky.social
The SII's goal is to bring the natural and cultural values and legacy of Sable Island to the public through programs of research, conservation, and education.
We are a registered charity. For more information visit our website at: sableislandinstitute.org
1/3🧵: More Shipwreck. #NorthAtlantic #Atlanticcanada #GraveyardoftheAtlantic ##buriedinsand #ParksCanada
On Sable Island, large and small fragments of shipwreck appear, unpredictably, as dunes migrate or erode, exposing what’s hidden beneath, and as beach profiles shift and retreat revealing …
December 13, 2025 at 1:49 AM
1/4🧵: Sable Island Shipwreck. 🚢 🇨🇦 #NorthAtlantic #Atlanticcanada #GraveyardoftheAtlantic
During mid-May 2025, #ParksCanada archaeologists excavated a section of a #shipwreck #buriedinsand at the base of a high dune. As they worked, sand sliding down the dune face fell into the site & sandbags were…
December 12, 2025 at 12:45 AM
1/3🧵: Merrimac at Sunset. 🚢 🇨🇦 #NorthAtlantic #GraveyardoftheAtlantic #sailboat #parkscanada
In late July 1999, the Merrimac, a 12-metre fibreglass yacht, sailed out of Newport R.I., bound for the Azores. On July 27, a few hours past midnight, the yacht ran aground on the south side of Sable Island….
December 11, 2025 at 12:11 AM
1/4🧵: 🌎 🐡 The Moon and a Hand, a Month Ago. #NorthAtlantic #Atlanticcanada #artistinresidenceprogram #Residency #Interdisciplinary
Sable’s #ArtistinResidence, Rose Morrison, repeatedly visited Pinetree Pond West, a freshwater pond south of the Sable Island Station. It was there that she discovered …
December 8, 2025 at 2:11 AM
1/3🧵: 🌎🌿 🦑 Grey Seal Mother & Pup on Sable Island.
The last beached bird & plastics survey for 2025 was completed on December 2. The annual Grey Seal pupping & breeding season has begun, & during the survey some of the first pups were sighted (several may have been a few days old). After …
December 6, 2025 at 3:45 PM
1/4🧵: Grey Seal Pupping Season 🌎🌿 🧪🇨🇦 #NorthAtlantic #Atlanticcanada
The seals are now congregating for their annual pupping & breeding season. During December & January several hundred thousand arrive on #SableIsland to give birth & mate. This is the largest Grey Seal colony in the world. …
December 6, 2025 at 3:18 PM
1/2🧵: Fall Colour in the Grass. #NorthAtlantic #Atlanticcanada #SableIslandwx #NSwx #fallcolours
It’s windy today – WNW gusting to >50 kts – & there’s a lot of sand blowing about. But in patches sheltered by the tall beach grass, strawberry leaves contribute to the island’s seasonal palette….
December 6, 2025 at 12:19 AM
1/2🧵: Light Air, Calm Water. #NorthAtlantic #Atlanticcanada #SableIslandwx #NSwx
During the past week very windy conditions (ranging from 35 - >50 kts) have alternated with days of mostly calm, 0 - 5 kts. Shown here in gloomy but still weather, there’s hardly enough breeze to ripple the surface …
December 6, 2025 at 12:08 AM
1/4🧵: Half a Blue Lobster Found This Fall 🌎🌿 🦑 #NorthAtlantic #Atlanticcanada #bluelobster
Since 2008, the remains of five blue lobsters (Homarus americanus) have been found on Sable Island. None were complete specimens – most (like this one) were missing parts. Some might have been scavenged …
November 29, 2025 at 12:06 AM
1/2🧵: Strawberry Washing Ashore 🌎 #NorthAtlantic #beachsurvey #washedashore
A deflated but huge Mylar/foil balloon shaped & coloured like a strawberry washing ashore on the north beach. It was collected & disposed of, but if it had been on the beach for a while, the sand would have scraped away …
November 28, 2025 at 12:39 AM
1/5🧵: Beached Balloon Debris 🌎 #SableIsland #NorthAtlantic #beacheddebris #beachedplastics
During the last #beachsurvey, a glimpse of white ribbon & edges of a plastic balloon in the sand indicated more beneath the surface - a dozen foil &/or Mylar balloons & about 30 latex balloons, all deflated..
November 28, 2025 at 12:23 AM
1/5🧵: Visiting a Shipwreck 🌎 🚢 🇨🇦 #NorthAtlantic #GraveyardoftheAtlantic #sailboat #buriedinsand #lifesavingstation #MeteorologicalService
On July 27, 1999, a few hours past midnight, a 12-metre fibreglass #yacht, Merrimac, ran aground on the south side of #SableIsland ….
November 26, 2025 at 11:53 PM
1/4🧵: Fall Colours on Sable Island. 🌎🌿 #SableIsland #NorthAtlantic #November #fallcolours #autumncolours #botany
As the leaves of marram grass turn yellow, many other plants contribute to the fall colours here, flickering & gleaming in the sunshine.
The dark wine-red berries ….
November 26, 2025 at 1:06 AM
1/2🧵: A Belly Scratch. 🌎🌿 #SableIsland #SableIslandwx #NSwx #wildhorses #wildhorsesofSable
Today was pleasant with a light SW breeze of 5-10 kts, & a max temp of 8.4°C. A band stallion, strolling eastward, stopped at driftwood tree trunk on the north beach for a general scratching session – legs, …
November 25, 2025 at 12:01 AM
1/5🧵: House at West Light, Sable Island.🌎 🧪 🇨🇦 #SableIsland #NorthAtlantic
A photo taken during the calm of November 20 when there was barely enough breeze to ripple the surface of the freshwater pond.
Although now known as the BIO House, this was originally the lightkeeper’s residence….
November 24, 2025 at 11:46 PM
1/3🧵: Floodwater and the Stream. 🌎 #SableIslandwx #NSwx
A cool, sunny day on #SableIsland with max temp 7.1°C & NW wind of 20-25 kts. South beach is still flooded, but the water is not as deep & extensive as it was, & is still draining off through the cut at the eastern end of the Sandy Plain….
November 24, 2025 at 1:51 AM
1/4🧵: Sable Island Horses on the West Spit.🌎🌿 #SableIsland #NorthAtlantic #wildhorses #wildhorsesofSable
Although photos of bare sand, bald dunes, & floodwater, might, to some, suggest a bleak landscape for horses, there are abundant areas of vegetated terrain. Plant communities include sheltered …
November 22, 2025 at 11:45 AM
1/2🧵: A Calm in November. 🌎 #NorthAtlantic #SableIslandwx #NSwx #lighttower
Yesterday, with a clear blue sky, a max temp of 9.1°C , & a NW breeze of only 6-8 kts, it felt like a calm day in late summer on #SableIsland. By mid afternoon clouds began moving across the island, but the wind didn’t …
November 22, 2025 at 12:30 AM
Sand Patterns on North Beach.
The high winds constantly sculpt Sable Island’s sand into large and dramatic drifts and ridges, but they also create finer effects such as the countless ripples that look like wind-driven waves of sand flowing across the flat, bare areas of beach.
Photo Zoe Lucas.
November 20, 2025 at 12:48 AM
1/2🧵: Bald Dune & One Horse
This massive hill of unvegetated sand is a #wanderingdune, slowly migrating across #SableIsland as windblown sand is moved from its north side to the south. It’s more complicated, but that’s the general idea. Most of the time the dune has a huge, smooth top. But with the…
November 19, 2025 at 12:18 AM
1/4🧵: Bren Gun Carrier and a Snippet of History. 🌎 🐡 #SableIsland #NorthAtlantic #sciart #WWII #history
While on the island, Rose Morrison, Sable’s first #ArtisinResidence, explored the sounds of both natural & human artifacts & materials. Here she listens to the tones created as she rapped ….
November 17, 2025 at 11:49 PM
1/4🧵: Sable Island Harbour Seal. 🌎🌿 #SableIslandnpr #NorthAtlantic
#beachsurvey #HarbourSeals
Yesterday, the survey was paused for a lone Harbour seal who had been snoozing about 30 m away from the sea's edge. (The water in the background is an area of shallow flooding from the last storm.) …
November 17, 2025 at 1:30 AM
1/2🧵: Autumn Afternoon. 🌎 #NorthAtlantic #SableIslandwx #NSwx
With a NW wind gusting to 23 kts, heavy, broken cloud, & a max temp of 6.2°C, today was the chilliest so far this fall. A family band of four Sable Island horses stand resting in a marram field. Although the lower parts of the leaves …
November 16, 2025 at 1:28 AM
1/2🧵: Sable Island Rainbow. 🌎 #NorthAtlantic #SableIslandwx #NSwx
With a SW wind gusting to 28 kts, a max temp of 9.7°C, towering white clouds & occasional light showers, yesterday was a fine day to begin a survey on south beach.
At 9:45 am, during a bright burst of rain, a full #rainbow developed…
November 15, 2025 at 1:15 PM
1/3🧵: Holding Sand
🌎🌿 🐡 #wildhorses #wildhorsesofSable #sanddunes #windblownsand
An autumn scene with four #SableIsland horses grazing in the distance on a high inland dune, providing a sense of scale.
Sable Island & the coastal beaches & dune systems of mainland #NovaScotia & #CapeBreton
November 12, 2025 at 7:22 PM