20 Dec This Nova Scotia: BBC Radio 4 on Sable Island

Last Tuesday, BBC Radio 4’s Making History series broadcast Sable Island – A Dune Adrift, reporter Sean Street’s documentary about “Nova Scotia’s Galapagos.”

At the Natural History Museum, in Halifax, [Sean] witnesses the unpacking of the latest consignment of bones and specimens – extraordinary ancient walrus skulls – collected by Zoe Lucas, who has been on the island for decades. He meets artist Roger Savage who had to tie his easel down, clamp his paper and battle with the scouring sand as he captured the landscape of the place in his paintings. And he meets a man who dedicated years to studying the rare Ipswich Sparrow which only nests on the island.

However, getting to and from Sable is quite difficult – with access restricted by the Canadian government, no harbour or regular air service, the wind blowing almost constantly and recurrent thick fog – will Sean actually manage to reach Sable Island?

Making History learned about Sable when listener Andy Alston contacted the program to find out more about the wife of an ancestor who was born around 1820 on the Island. Listen to the 30-minute documentary here.

Hat tip: Robert Speirs