Sable Island Conference 2015
On May 1st and 2nd, 2015, Friends of Sable Island Society, along with the Nova Scotian Institute of Science and Dalhousie University’s School for Resource and Environmental Studies, presented the first Sable Island Conference on The Science and History of Sable Island. There were over 30 presenters and 120 attendees. It was a wonderful opportunity to learn more about Sable Island and encourage collaboration between researchers, historians, artists, Parks Canada staff and the general public.
Seven research papers resulting from the conference were published in a special section of the Proceedings of the Nova Scotian Institute of Science (2016), including a summary of the conference NSIS Vol 48-2 Willison, Hennigar.
Many thanks to everyone who made the Sable Island Conference 2015 possible:
Conference Organizing Committee
- Martin Willison
- Terry Hennigar
- Alan Ruffman
- April Hennigar
- Peter Tyedmers
- Patrick Ryall
- Bill Freedman
- Peter Wells
- Bernadette Morris
- Kym Paquette
- Heather Hennigar
- Allan Hennigar
Board of Directors for the Friends of Sable Island Society
- April Hennigar
- Glenn Bartlett
- Amanda Bolt
- Anne Irwin
- Debbie Kempton
- Helene Paulus Thain
- Jordan March
- Terry Hennigar
- Alan Ruffman
- Martin Willison
Sable Island Conference 2015 Presentations
SI2015-A-2: “Return to Sable” – Jill Martin
Writing under the pseudonym Jill Martin-Bouteillier in honour of her family, Jill’s novel Return to Sable (2015) opens the portal to life on Sable Island
SI2015-A-5: “The History of the Natural History of Sable Island” – Ian A. McLaren
The earliest published observations on the biota of Sable Island, along with casual observations in the logbooks of successive superintendents, are vague and emphasize natural
SI2015-A-6: “How Sable Island Came to Be a National Park” – Kevin McNamee
Sable Island was officially protected as a national park reserve under the Canada National Parks Act in December 2013. This presentation will summarize the history
SI2015-B-1: “Glacial and post-glacial geomorphic evolution of Sable Island and the surrounding Sable Island Bank – Today’s Seabed” – E.L. King, A. Ruffman, M. Li, and K. Webb
Mapping the seabed topography around Sable Island started with British hydrographers Des Barres (1776), Bayfield (1853) and Orelebar (1859). All were lead-line, celestial navigation surveys.
SI2015-B-2: “Sedimentation in the shallow-marine area around Sable Island” – Robert W. Dalrymple and Eric L. Hoogendoorn
The shallow marine area surrounding Sable Island is floored by sand. The grain size of the seafloor sediment becomes finer eastward, with gravel occurring on
SI2015-B-3: “Insights Into Shoreline Dynamics based on Repetitive Shore Surveys (1975-1985) on Sable Island, Nova Scotia” – R. B. Taylor
Sable Island is one of the longest continuous sand beaches and largest dune systems found in Atlantic Canada yet little has been written about its
SI2015-B-4: “Enabling High-Precision, Position Monitoring of Sable Island through the Nova Scotia Coordinate Referencing System” – Jason Bond
Since the 1960s, the Province of Nova Scotia has carried a mandate of providing spatial referencing infrastructure for its citizens. This infrastructure is known as
SI2015-B-5: “Mapping the Landscape of Sable Island” – David Colville, Brittany Reeves, Bill Livingstone, Heather Stewart
In September 2014 the Applied Geomatics Research Group (AGRG) completed a third aerial mapping campaign of Sable Island. The AGRG first mapped the island in
SI2015-C-1: “Sable Island Dune Morphology: a comparison of change over twenty years” – Mary-Louise Byrne
The dunes of Sable Island can be categorized into four physiographic regions: the west spit, the main body, the wide flat beaches on the south
SI2015-C-2: “The Ocean Tracking Network’s Sable Island Acoustic array and its link to regional aquatic telemetry activities” – Frederick Whoriskey
Starting in 2008, Dalhousie University’s Ocean Tracking Network (OTN) began deploying Canadian state-of-the-art acoustic receivers and oceanographic monitoring equipment in key global ocean locations. These
SI2015-C-3: “The Hydrogeology of Sable Island” – Terry W. Hennigar
The study of hydrogeology is a science which is still in its infancy, being practiced for only 50 years in Nova Scotia. This paper will
SI2015-C-4: “The status, ecology, and conservation of Sable Island’s seabirds” – Robert A. Ronconi
Sable Island is the most isolated seabird colony site in eastern Canada, offering a unique opportunity to study the ecology and population dynamics of terns
SI2015-C-5: “Post-breeding movements of a migratory songbird reveal dramatic differences between adults and fledglings” – Zoe J. Crysler
Post-breeding dispersal is a crucial yet challenging period for migratory birds. It is poorly understood due to difficulties in tracking cryptic, and sometimes far ranging
SI2015-D-1: “Ecological footprints of grey seals on and off Sable Island” – W. D. Bowen
Grey seals numbers were reduced by hunting to the point of being considered rare in eastern North America through the 1950s. The largest grey seal
SI2015-D-5: “How Many Vessels Have Wrecked at Sable Island” – Aaron Mior
Partially due to its alluring environment and cultural history, Sable Island has found a place within the Canadian psyche. Stories and tales of shipwreck lore
SI2015-E-1: “Overview of Settlement History at Sable Island” – Aaron Mior
This paper will provide an overview of the settlement and human occupation on Sable Island which can be divided into two distinct periods, the pre-1801
SI2015-E-2: “Assessing Sable Island’s Archaeological Resources – 5 Centuries of Heritage” – Daniel Finamore, Ph.D. and William Barton
The project looks at the history (1500s – 1900s) of temporary and semi-permanent settlements on Sable Island, ranging from shipwrecked sailor encampments, fishing camps, salvage/wrecking
SI2015-E-4: “Monitoring visitor experience aboard expedition cruises to Sable Island National Park Reserve” – Patrick T. Maher, Ph.D.
Expedition cruise ships visit many remote regions of the world. These smaller expedition vessels carry fewer passengers and offer an increased educational program with onboard
