The mysterious island of sable. Incomprehensible wandering island sable Island that moves
It is believed that Portuguese sailors became the discoverers of the island at the beginning of the 16th century.
Its first name was Santa Cruz, which means "island of the Holy Cross". Later, he received his current name - Sable (according to various sources, in translation, this means "sable", "sand" or "saber"). Some sailors nicknamed the island Mourning. This is due to the fact that it was here that died a large number of various ships: English, Portuguese, French. Many pirate ships have also been wrecked near this island.
According to another version, the Vikings, who landed on it 1000 years ago, became the discoverers of this island of Sable. This is not surprising, given their lifestyle and longing for endless travel. But some researchers cite facts that deny this statement.
This piece of sushi is supposed to have become independent island only 500 years ago. Until that time, it was part of the continent, but then, for some reason, it separated from it, and began to gradually move away into the oceanic expanses.
From the very beginning, Sable may have been quite impressive in size: its width was within 300 km, and its length was 370 km. Scientists have found such data in nautical charts ah, dated to the 16th century. And this means that at that time the island had already been found. But, the only thing is unknown - what was the topography and soil on it then.
According to some scholars, none other than Jean de Lery is the discoverer of Sable. This is famous traveler, originally from France, who for some time lived among the Indians of South America. This means that such an event could have occurred at the beginning of the second half of the 16th century. A small part of historians points to the British whalers, who also could be the first to discover this island. One way or another, the question of the discoverer is still unfinished.
Sable named "Shipwreck Island"
So, what sinister secrets does Sable Island hide? What is so mystical and unusual about it? Why does he so scare more than one generation of sailors? And why is it that so often in taverns and taverns sailors tell each other terrible stories about the accursed Shipwreck Island or, as it is also called, the Graveyard of the Atlantic, avoiding to pronounce its real name aloud?
Sable Island has long been of interest to researchers from various countries. Back in the 20th century, they managed to notice one interesting feature. Sable is known to be affected by strong sea currents from the West Side. And it is not yet known how long already powerful waves contribute to the erosion of the coastal zone of Sable.
But the most amazing thing is that east side islands constantly, as if by magic, new sediments grow from the sand. But where do they come from, because neither the laws of physics, nor even the simple logic of things can explain this phenomenon. In addition, there is another mystery that researchers also cannot solve. This is that the island is in endless motion, which is also inexplicable so far, and besides, it has changed its length indicators very little in its entire hundreds of years of existence.
"Island of Shipwrecks", like a large and predatory monster, is moving towards its goal - to the east. The research data is amazing, because the island is moving in eastbound at a speed of approximately 200 meters per year.
For almost a year in the water element washing the banks of the Sable, bad weather rages. But July is the only month when a boat can land on the island. The sea element during this period completely calms down on the northern side of the island.
Sable Island is very treacherous. It is fraught with a formidable weapon against sailors - sharp reefs located close to the shoals. The reefs turn bluish in an amazing way and “dissolve” against the background of the sea surface. Due to this property, they become almost invisible. Therefore, ships easily fall into a trap. Such a phenomenon has existed for a very long time, and 200, and 300, and 400 years ago, entire ships perished.
At first, only small ships made of wood were honored with this fate. Gradually, the turn came for sailboats, and later for huge ships. The sand sucked in everything that swam up to Sable Island, regardless of size. It is also interesting that, having fallen into a trap, the ship plunged into the sand very slowly and unhurriedly. The island, as if intently tried to "taste" what kind of ship it tastes like.
But with each successive day, immersion in the sand became faster and faster. It took the island only two weeks to half swallow a large ship. And a completely huge ship disappeared in quicksand in just a month and a half, as if it did not exist at all.
Sable Island Horses
Now sometimes near the island you can see a part of the hull of a ship, when the sand is washed out a little with water. You can see both the ships of the 20th century and the sailing ships that existed in the 17th century. Gradually, the sands are again washed with water, and hide their crimes. The island keeps under its sands the history of these ships.
Sailors who lost their ships in the greedy sands of Sable Island often made landfall, and lived quite well on it. In order to somehow survive, people used the fresh water that could be found in the lakes of Sable. In the construction of houses, they were helped by a variety of vegetation and the remains of a ship. They often ate fur seals for food.
Fortunately, this was a favorite island for these animals to live in, and they lived on it in whole colonies. However, the sailors had a hard time when the fur seals ended their mating season, and they sailed away from the island. They returned only after 6 months, which, of course, was reflected in the condition of people if they got to the island during this period.
Horses began to inhabit this unusual island in the 18th century. Perhaps they got there as a result of a shipwreck, however, this is still not fully clarified. These animals were able to survive in harsh conditions for them, and even fully adapt to them.
Now the island has about 300 individuals of these animals. People also managed to settle on Sable at the end of the 19th century. It was English civil servants who, in connection with the endless shipwrecks, installed a lighthouse on the island. The employees served as lighthouse keepers and also acted as lifeguards.
In the middle of the 20th century, a radio beacon and two lighthouses were installed on the mysterious island. And in the 21st century, Sable was officially recognized as a protected area. In this regard, wild horses and fur seals living on the island are protected objects. Sable itself can only be accessed with a special permit.
Now this land belongs to Canada. Civil servants live on the island with their families, and the number of people is within 30. Specialists are engaged in the maintenance of the radio station, lighthouses and monitor the proper operation of the Hydrometeorological Center. In addition, the employees are professionally trained rescuers, but, fortunately, their help has not been needed for a long time, since there have been no shipwrecks near the island for as long as 65 years.
There are not many buildings on the island. There are only two houses that are installed according to all the rules on a solid foundation. Everything else is trailer houses and one hangar for boats that serve to rescue. There is also a monument on Sable that includes the names of the ships that crashed near its shores. It is constructed from ship masts, and such a chronology dates back to 1800. Looking at this monument, there is no doubt that hundreds of ships were lost in the area of the Sable coast.
Sable is a living alien organism
Despite the fact that the island has long been inhabited, it still remains one of the most mysterious places on the planet. The most amazing thing, given its movement into the ocean, it should have disappeared under water 40 years ago. But, in an absolutely incredible way, it still exists, and even increased in size. The island definitely hides some secrets, and the most important of them is why does it always sail in an easterly direction?
Many researchers have tried to excavate on it, but all to no avail. The island instantly fills the dug space with water, even the fixing material could not help the scientists. Some brave researchers of the 20th century put forward the hypothesis that Sable Island is an alien organism, and exists in the form of a kind of biorobot. He is probably collecting information for some other inhabitants of the Universe.
Perhaps a little time will pass, and the mysteries of the unusual island of Sable will be revealed, who knows?
The oceans are rich in mysterious mysterious and dangerous places for people. These are little-studied plots of land in boundless waters, and killer waves, and the Devil's belt, and insidious whirlpools, and underground volcanoes, and huge tsunamis. It is simply impossible to enumerate all the diverse insidiousness of the mighty waters. Not the last place in this sad series is occupied by Sable Island. It is located in the North Atlantic, not far from Nova Scotia.
Nova Scotia is a peninsula containing the Canadian province of the same name. The above-named island is only 180 km from it. This piece of land is located northeast of Halifax, the capital of the administrative entity. It has the shape of an elongated crescent and very small sizes. Its length is only 40 kilometers, and the width reaches one and a half kilometers at its widest point.
The relief of the island - sandy hills and long dunes, alternating with small patches of land with grassy vegetation. The highest hill on the island reaches a height of 34 meters and is called Riggin Hill. There are no rivers or streams. There are several lakes. The largest and deepest of them is Wallace Lake. Its depth reaches 4 meters. The water in it is brackish, as the reservoir is very close to the ocean. high waves, during storms, easily overcome a narrow stretch of land and sea salt dilutes fresh water.
There are no trees or shrubs on Sable Island. The ball here is ruled by sand. It is he who is responsible for the fact that this curved narrow piece of land is constantly moving and gradually moving away from the Canadian coast. The speed of its movement is 230 meters per year. Over the past 200 years, the island has sailed almost 40 km from the mainland.
Of course, such "swimming" cannot be taken literally. The thing is that the western sandy part of the island is constantly washed away by sea waters. The sand is transported to the eastern part, which for this reason builds up all the time. As a result, it seems that the island is moving, moving further and further into the open ocean.
But Sable Island is remarkable not only for its “movement”. For several hundred years it has been called the "devourer of ships." Where did such a gloomy phrase come from?
The thing here is that this piece of land is very difficult to see from the deck of a sailing ship. The sand on the island has an amazing property to take on color. sea wave and merge with the ocean. This optical effect at all times led to the fact that ships plowing the ocean near the Canadian coast, very often wedged into coastline treacherous sandy land. Heavy ships ran aground and received holes. The sailors who were on them either drowned or got out to the island.
The further fate of the surviving people developed in different ways. But the fate of the damaged ships was unambiguous. The coastal sand began, in the truest sense of the word, to suck in wrecked ocean ships. And it happened very quickly. In less than a month, the ship was completely hidden in the sandy soil. Only the masts remained on the surface, which disappeared over the next couple of weeks.
This was observed 400, and 300, and 200 years ago. At first, the island devoured small wooden ships, then huge sailboats, and finally the turn came to ships with steel hulls. Dimensions ocean liners played no role. Everything was sucked into the sand, like into a bottomless swamp.
Caught in a fatal embrace, the ship at first sank into the quicksand slowly. The island, as it were, was tasting a new object and was in no hurry to swallow it. But every day the process of immersion accelerated. Within a couple of weeks, the huge ship was half hidden in the sand. Another 10 days, and the rest of the hull went into sandy soil. A month and a half later, there were no traces of the liner.
Nowadays, the sand is sometimes washed away and part of a hull is exposed. It can turn out to be a sailing ship of the 17th century, and a well-tailored ship of the 20th century. A little time passes, and the sand is washed again and hides the traces of their crimes.
It is still unknown who discovered Sable Island. Many researchers claim that the Vikings landed on it for the first time 1000 years ago. These eternal sea travelers plied the seas and oceans in all directions. They visited North America long before Columbus and naturally honored the mysterious island with their attention.
There are some serious arguments against this assertion. There is an opinion that this piece of land became an island only 500 years ago. Prior to that, it was part of the continental landmass. Then, for unknown reasons, a piece of land broke away from the mainland and began to move away into the ocean.
At first it was very large. The length of this formation was 370 km, and the width was 300 km. These figures are taken from nautical charts of the 16th century. That is, at that time they already knew about the island. It's not really clear what he was. It is not known what kind of relief it had and what kind of soil.
Some researchers believe that Jean de Lery discovered Sable Island. The same French traveler who lived for a long time in South America among the Indians. So this is the beginning of the second half of the XVI century. Other historians point to the British whalers. Allegedly, it was they who first set foot on sandy soil at the end of the 16th century. mysterious island. In short, the question of the discoverer or discoverers remains open.
The bloodthirsty essence of the island was not immediately understood by people. Shipwrecks happened all over the ocean, there was no radio communication in ancient times. More than a dozen years passed before the sailors began to guess that a small piece of land was fraught with mortal danger.
However, shipwrecked near unsteady sandy shores very often got out on land and felt quite at ease on it. Lakes with fresh water, some kind of vegetation, the remains of ship hulls - all this gave people the opportunity to somehow arrange their temporary life. Fur seals served as food. Their colonies settled on the island from time immemorial. True, after the end of the mating season, these eared seals swam into the sea and were absent for 6 months. This undoubtedly affected the condition of people if they got to the island when there were no living creatures on it.
At the end of the 18th century, horses appeared on a mysterious piece of land. They survived in harsh conditions and adapted to them quite well. How these artiodactyls got to the island is unknown. Most likely ended up on it in connection with a shipwreck. Currently, about 300 heads of wild horses live on Sable Island. As for people, they settled on sandy soil at the end of the 19th century. These were not settlers, but civil servants. Frequent shipwrecks forced the British, who at that time already owned the island after the French, to build a lighthouse on it. That is, the employees were the servants of this lighthouse, and were also considered a rescue team.
In the middle of the 20th century, 2 lighthouses and a radio beacon were installed on the treacherous land. In the 21st century, Sable Island became a nature reserve. Nowadays, it can only be accessed with a special permit. Here, fur seals and wild horses are protected by law.
This is Canadian soil. Employees live on it with their families. The total population does not exceed 30 people. The task of specialists is to maintain lighthouses, radio stations and the Hydrometeorological Center. Also, these people are rescuers, but over the past 65 years there have been no shipwrecks near the island.
Of all the buildings, there are two houses resting on a solid foundation. In addition to them, there are also trailer houses. There are no other buildings on the crescent-shaped patch of land, except for the hangar for rescue boats.
There is a kind of monument built from ship masts. It is all hung with boards with the names of the ships that died near the loose banks. This chronology has been conducted since 1800. Taking into account the previous centuries, we can safely say that hundreds of ships found their end near the insidious land.
There is a strong opinion that the values that lie in the sands are worth several tens of millions of dollars. This is expensive dishes, and works of art, and gold. All these items were once transported by ships and found their end near the unsteady shores.
Considering special status islands, no work on the extraction of marine treasures is carried out on it. The inhabitants themselves are more busy growing gardens than looking for some treasures. Fishing is also an integral part of life. There are a lot of fish in coastal waters.
Despite the fact that a person has settled this sandy piece of land for a very long time, he is the greatest mystery World Ocean. Even 40 years ago, the island was predicted to disappear completely. He "moved" into the ocean and by all laws should have disappeared. But nothing of the sort happened. Sable Island not only did not disappear, but even slightly increased in size. This contradicts all established judgments about the world around us, but the fact is there. So the solution to this natural phenomenon is yet to come.
For many centuries, Sable Island has inspired genuine horror in the hearts of sailors. It's dark, mysterious and mysterious place so infamous for its many shipwrecks that it has come to be known as the "ship-eater", "ship graveyard", "death saber" or "Atlantic graveyard".
The island is located in the North Atlantic, 180 km southeast of Halifax, Nova Scotia, where the cold Labrador Current meets the warm Gulf Stream. It has the shape of an elongated crescent and very small sizes. Its length is only 40 kilometers, and the width reaches one and a half kilometers at its widest point.
The relief of the island - sandy hills and long dunes, alternating with small patches of land with grassy vegetation. The highest hill on the island reaches a height of 34 meters and is called Riggin Hill. There are several lakes, the largest and deepest of them is Wallace Lake. Its depth reaches 4 meters. The water in it is brackish, as the reservoir is very close to the ocean. High waves during storms easily overcome a narrow stretch of land and sea salt dilutes fresh water.
Under the action of waves and currents, the western tip of the island is gradually eroded and disappears, while the eastern tip is washed out and lengthened. As a result, the island is moving at a speed of 230 meters per year, moving farther and farther into the open ocean. Over the past 200 years, the island has sailed almost 40 km from the mainland.
For passing ships, especially with waves, the island is almost imperceptible, since its height above sea level is low. Only in clear weather, which happens here only in July, can a narrow strip of sand be discerned from the deck of a ship on the horizon. Despite the fact that at this time of the year the ocean calms down, you can only approach the island by boat from the north side.
The sands of the shoals of the island are quicksand and they tend to take on the color of ocean water. This is the main danger that lies in wait for the court at Sable. The sands of the wandering island literally swallow the ships captured by them. It is known that steamships with a displacement of five thousand tons, a length of 100-120 meters, which ended up on the shallows of Sable, completely disappeared in the "quagmire" within two to three months.
This piece of land, with its minimum height, fast movement, constant storms, seems to be created for the death of sailors. The first "devouring" of the ship by Sable was recorded back in 1583. Then an English ship called "Delight" ("Delight"), which was part of the expedition of Humphrey Gilbert, rammed the sands of the island due to poor visibility. The last catastrophe is considered to be a shipwreck in 1947 - the steamer "Manhasset" could not avoid a collision with the island. The entire crew was rescued. Only eight cases have been recorded when ships managed to get out of the quicksands of the island and avoid death.
In recent years, not a single case of the death of a large vessel in the sands of Sable Island has been noted.
Moving under the influence of ocean waves, the sandbars of the island sometimes show the remains of ships that disappeared a long time ago. So, in the late 70s of the twentieth century, after another storm, the hull of an American ship was visible from the sand, which disappeared without a trace in the last century. Three months later, the sand again buried this ship in its thickness.
The wandering island of Sable is undoubtedly a mystery.
Elena Krumbo, especially for the World of Secrets website
Sable Island gained notoriety that it became known as the "Ship Eater", "Ship Graveyard", "Death Saber", or simply "Shipwreck Island". This island is located 110 miles southeast of Halifax. The continental shelf where the cold Labrador Current meets the warm Gulf Stream. Like a giant tentacle, the sable stretched from West to East for 24 miles. This gloomy, mysterious and mysterious place was called by experienced sailors the tomb of the Atlantic.
The mysterious island has long been of interest to scientists. It has been established that the shores of the western tip of the island are methodically eroded due to strong sea currents. Waves that do not stop for a minute, driven by the wind, with monotonous powerful blows, methodically erode the western tip of the island. The most amazing thing is that, contrary to the laws of physics and the logic of things, the western tip of the island is constantly overgrown with new sand drifts. These sand deposits are constantly growing, like a living tissue. And they just have nowhere to take! However, they are growing!
For scientists, it remains a mystery that as a result of such processes, the length of this island has practically not changed for many hundreds of years! Sable Island, like a terrible sandy slug, is slowly but surely moving, and constantly, in an easterly direction. Over the past two hundred years, as the researchers found out, the island of bad luck "Crawled", quietly and imperceptibly, through the stormy expanses of the ocean for more than 10 nautical miles. The island moves at an average speed of about 200 meters per year! For scientists, this is a mystery.
It is known that any island is the top of an underwater mountain, and the mountain is located on a tectonic plate. Tectonic plates, like pieces of a mosaic, cover our entire planet. Sable Island is no exception. This means that this island must "Drift" at the same speed as the tectonic plate on which it stands. But, the speed of its movement is a few millimeters per year (sometimes more. It is also surprising that the height of the island above sea level does not change at all and is very insignificant. The sable is absolutely invisible to passing ships, especially with waves. Absolutely mysterious and incomprehensible a natural phenomenon. This piece of land, with its minimum height, fast movement, constant fogs, as if created for the death of seafarers, has earned itself a rather gloomy fame that has spread throughout all the oceans, seas and ports of the world. This is not a complete set of all the "Charms". It is understandable why the sailors fall silent even at the mention of this island.
For centuries, sailors have been trying to avoid this wandering island. But not everyone can do it. Almost the whole year there is a terrible bad weather here, and only on someone's unknown command, in July, the sea suddenly becomes gentle, making it possible to land on the island from boats. Despite the calm weather, landings can only be made on the northern side of the island. There were always few people who wanted to visit this island. An insidious nuisance for passing ships - sharp reefs and shoals surrounding the island, which have a unique property - they take on the color of sea water and remain completely invisible, for inanimate nature, the ability of mimicry is completely uncharacteristic. One can only guess how many ships found their inglorious end near this island. Sable Island keeps many hidden secrets.
Before the outbreak of World War II, a sensation spread throughout the world. That spring, around Sable Island, storms of unusual strength raged. Giant whirlpools, like huge pumps or shrews, removed hundreds of tons of sand from the mysterious island. A huge hole formed on the island. It was as if the sea itself had decided to lift the veil of secrecy that shrouded this island of bad luck. The expedition that landed on the sable discovered the remains of eight ships. And the main thing is that under the wreckage of the schooner "Saint Louise" the skeleton of an ancient Roman galley was discovered! And it's only a hundred miles off the coast of Canada! While scientists were arguing how this could happen, a terrible storm broke out, which raged for several days. After the storm subsided, the partially opened tomb of the ships was covered with tons of dirty, damp sand washed up by the waves.
In the late 70s of the 20th century, after another storm passed, the bow of an American ship was visible from the sand, which disappeared without a trace back in the 19th century, along with the cargo and the entire crew. The wreck of the ship, for several days, was clearly visible from passing ships. As usual, after another strong storm, the sand again buried this ship in its thickness.
Sable Island visited many times scientific expeditions. It's not that simple. "Tomb of the Atlantic" knows how to keep its secrets. Attempts to start excavations on the island ended in failure. The holes dug on the island were immediately filled with sea water. Where does the water in the center of the island come from - a mystery!
At the end of the 20th century, researchers of anomalous phenomena put forward a rather original and bold hypothesis. According to this hypothesis, the island of a sable is nothing more than an alien living organism that functions according to laws that are incomprehensible and unknown to terrestrial science. The basis of the vital activity of this organism is silicon, and not like our carbon. And silicon is sand! The main danger to passing ships is quicksand shoals, the so-called "Ocean Bog". The quicksands of the island literally absorb the ships that have fallen into them. It is known for certain that ships 100 - 120 meters long, and with a displacement of 5 thousand tons, completely disappeared from sight within 2-3 months.
The Wandering Sable Island is undoubtedly a mystery. Perhaps someday we will find out all his secrets. Ezomir.
Sable Island located 110 miles southeast of Halifax, near the mainland, in the southern part of Atlantic Ocean. In this place warm waters The Gulf Stream meets the cold Labrador Current.
In its shape, Sable Island really resembles a saber or tentacles, who sees what. It stretched from east to west for 24 miles. Experienced sailors called this mysterious and mysterious place " the tomb of the atlantic».
Riddles Saber Islands have long been of interest to scientists. At the beginning of the 20th century, it was found that the western part of the island was subject to a strong permanent current. Multi-ton waves, driven by strong winds, break on the coast of this island without rest. But East End the coast, like an antipode, is always quiet and calm. New sand drifts are constantly growing there, which, logically, have nowhere to come from, but they keep coming and coming…
The most interesting thing is that the size of the island almost does not change over the years. On the one hand, the island is washed away by waves, on the other hand, it grows due to sand deposits! And over the years, this island, like a tired snake, slowly moves eastward. The researchers managed to find out that over the past 200 years, Saber Island has quietly and quietly passed more than ten nautical miles of the world's oceans! The island is moving at a speed 200 meters per year!
But this was not the only thing that surprised scientists so much. As a rule, any island is the top of a mountain. The mountain itself rests on one of the giant tectonic plates that form our planet. It would seem that Sable Island should drift at a speed no greater than the speed of the tectonic plate. The average speed of movement of the tectonic plate is a few millimeters per year. Saber Island's movement is much faster. 
In addition to its high-speed movement, Saber Island is also famous as a kind of quagmire. The fact is that one part of the island is covered with quicksand. Sailors claim that these sands are practically indistinguishable from sea water, acquiring the color of a wave, they mislead sailors. treacherous sands this island is swallowed up by sailing ships. It is known for certain that the Saber Islands sailing to the shore big ships(100-120 meters long, with a displacement of five thousand tons) were completely immersed in the sands for two to three months.
Throughout the year, there is a terrible bad weather over Saber Island. Just one month (July) here are more or less good weather. During this period, the island is favorable for mooring ships and boats. True, there are not so many who want to visit this island, there are too many shoals and sharp reefs in the area. Surprisingly, these dangers are also able to hide, acquiring the color of sea water. 
Now Sable Island belongs to Canada. It is inhabited, 15-25 people live here. These are workers and specialists from the Canadian Department of Transport who monitor the island's hydrometeorological center, radio station and lighthouses. Their duties include the rescue of shipwrecked people within the island.
