Sable Island National Park Reserve

Natural Wonders and Cultural Treasures

A family band of wild horses walks near West Light. The Sable Island horse population has historically ranged between 150 and 400 individuals.
© Parks Canada

Blue-flag iris blooms near a freshwater pond
© Parks Canada

Sable Island has an extremely rich history stretching back to the 1500s, including shipwrecks, life-saving stations, and over a hundred years of weather monitoring. Its ecology is fascinating with wild horses, seals, over three hundred species of birds, including the only known breeding location in the world for the Ipswich sparrow, and species of moths and insects found nowhere else on the planet. A vibrant plant community, including some plants that have rare distribution elsewhere, grow on the rolling and dynamic dunes that make up one of the largest dune systems in Eastern Canada.

Follow the links below to learn more about this fabled island.

• Sable Island Natural History
• Sable Island Cultural History
• Sable Island Maps
• Sable Island Weather

Sable Island is the only known breeding location for the Ipswich sparrow.
© Parks Canada

Learn more

If you want to discover more about Sable Island, the following websites have a vast amount of information:

• Sable Island Green Horse Society
• Maritime Musuem of the Atlantic
• Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History