There are many mysterious places in the world, shrouded in sinister stories and legends. Often such fame comes from accidents and deaths occurring in such places. One of them is Sable Island, known not only among sailors, but also among those who are not related to the sea.
Location and features
Sable Island is located in the Atlantic Ocean, off the southeastern coast of Canada, about 200 km from the mainland. It is unique because it does not have a strictly defined location, as it gradually moves. This is due to the fact that the island has a sandy structure and is located at the junction of two currents - the Gulf Stream and the Labrador Stream. The impact of powerful ocean jets and waves contributes to the gradual erosion of the western coast and the growth of the eastern one. As a result, Sable is constantly shifting. It is worth noting that over the last 2 centuries, it has moved away from the mainland by almost 4 tens of kilometers. However, the reason for the drift of this piece of land is still not fully understood.
The length of the island is currently just over 40 km, with a maximum width of 1.5 km. It is worth noting that it used to be much larger - judging by the maps of the 17th century, the length and width of the Sable was almost 10 times the modern one. The relief is represented mainly by sand dunes and low hills interspersed with vegetation. The maximum height is 34 m above sea level. The island has several small lakes with a depth of no more than 4 meters. According to experts, it should have completely disappeared over time, but this did not happen - Sable's territory has even slightly increased recently for unknown reasons.
If from the moment of its discovery the island was uninhabited, then later inhabitants began to appear on it - people who escaped during shipwrecks. Permanent settlers began to live on Sable in the 19th century, when a lighthouse was built on the island. Currently, a number of people live on the island, serving the lighthouses and the weather station. Also, the attraction of this place is the feral horses - the descendants of animals that survived after the next shipwreck.
Danger to ships
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For a long time, the island has acquired a very sinister fame, since it was there that a huge number of ships wrecked. The reason, according to many researchers, is the small height of the island above sea level, which makes it very difficult to see from the ship. The situation is aggravated by the sands of the shallows, which merge with the water in color, so the sailors thought that there was only water ahead. As a result, the ships crashed into the shallows at full speed and were wrecked.
The climatic conditions in this region are also often difficult - storms with high waves and fogs reign most of the year, visibility is not very good. All these factors, along with the constant movement of the island, contributed to the frequent shipwrecks.
Throughout its history, the island has caused the death of a huge number of ships, the number of which, according to various sources, ranges from 350 to 500. At present, due to the presence of lighthouses on this piece of land and modern equipment on ships, disasters no longer occur. The last ship suffered from the insidious island in the 40s of the last century, while the members of its crew remained alive.
On Sable, in memory of all the lost ships, a monument was erected with their names, made from the ship masts found there.
Island quicksand
A separate feature of this place is the quicksands that make up the shallows. They are one of the main dangers of the island for wrecked ships. Quicksands differ in their structure from ordinary sands in that they are oversaturated with air or liquid. As a result, such sand becomes in its properties the same as a swamp - objects with a higher density can fall into it. Therefore, this phenomenon is very dangerous.
Sable Island's quicksand is saturated with moisture, as it is located on the border with the ocean. During the crash, all ships crashed into the shore and got stuck in it. At the same time, one could see that they gradually sink into the sand, completely hiding in it in 2-4 weeks. There were cases when the sands of the island were swallowed up even by large ships with a large displacement. At the same time, sometimes after some time, some of the buried ships appeared briefly on the surface, then to disappear in the depths of the island forever. There are cases when ships captured by the island were nevertheless released, but there are only a few of them in the entire history since its discovery.
Today the island is considered a protected area, so to get there, you need to obtain a special permit. It is worth noting that this place is unique due to climatic and geographical features - there are no other locations with similar properties in the world.