little known canadian wonder
Sunday, July 15th, 2007In a recent discussion ‘Sable Island’ came up as an interesting topic. I’d never heard of this place before.
It’s 180km southeast of Nova Scotia, and yes it’s part of Canada. In order of density, the population consists of birds, wild horses, and people. It’s a crescent shaped sandbar (w/ vegetation) that is no more then 2km wide at it’s widest point and approximately 46km long.
Of notoriety: more then 300 shipwrecks (aka Graveyard of the Atlantic); a Nova Scotian beetle; and over 250 wild horses.
How did they get there? (the horses of course) Well, they are descended from horses confiscated from Acadians during the Great Expulsion and left on the island.
If you’re just a little curious about this place visit Sable Island entry on Wikipedia. There’s a bibliography at the bottom of that page and some links to some other external resources. Of note is some photographs of the Sable Island horses.
So what really gets me is the absence of a spot like this in CBC’s Seven Wonders spectacle. No it wouldn’t have had to win, but sure as heck is a wonder - much more so then many of the nominees… and hardly anyone (Canadian or otherwise) knows about it!
The whole ‘wonders’ thing was really annoying, but that’s likely due to the rather wide interpretation of ‘wonder’. Historical spots, structures, engineering, and objects all seemed to be eligible - but a wonder to me defies description and is awe-inspiring. I am also drawn to natural wonders more then anything else. Of course seven would not be enough to represent our country’s natural wonders - it is an amazing place in deed with National & Provincial Parks aplenty.
Many interpreted this more as representing what defines ‘Canadiana’, and in some of those cases I agree wholeheartedly (yay! for the canoe!!!). But wonders? Bah!