Travel Although they are naturally selected to be shorter and stockier than artificially selected domestic breeds, Sable Island herds are genetically horses, not ponies. Their wind-blown manes, forelocks and tails are their most common features. We wondered how they could see through the forelocks that sometimes covered their eyes. Our trip was in June, whenmany of the horses were shedding their thick and shaggy winter coats. They travelled in bands comprised of a dominant male, mares, yearlings and foals. Sable Island has 40 to 50 bands of horses. Family bands of five-to-eight individuals are themost common. Young stallions that don’t yet have a harem often travel together in bachelor groups. Females usually give birth between April and July. We watched long-legged fillies and colts nursing and following their mothers. Horses are itchy.They are always looking for places to scratch their backs. They roll in the sand to relieve the itch. They also rub against the fence surrounding Environment Canada’s meteorological equipment on the island. “When we’re watching TV and it suddenly goes fuzzy, we know that a horse is rubbing its rear end against the satellite dish,” said Daryll Mooney, who was the Parks Canada operations co-ordinator during our tour of Main Station. To minimize their footprint, the two Parks Canada staff use the pre-existing Environment Canada infrastructure. “Three Environment Canada staff live in apartments on an eight-weeks-on, eight-weeks-off rotational basis. They’re self-sufficient with a dishwasher, fridge, WiFi, satellite TV and cooking equipment,” explained Daryll. Three diesel generators provide electricity. “Our maintenance guys are very resourceful, because they can’t just go to Home Depot for spare parts.” Other buildings include Zoe Lucas’s laboratory, the carpentry shop, warehouses, the Environment Canada office, the staff house (where visiting researchers stay) and the officer-in-charge house. “Collecting climate data on Sable Island goes back to the 1800s,” said Jonathan Sheppard. “It helps us understand the dynamics of global air currents.” Sable Island weather is characterized by wind and fog (125 days of fog every year). During our tour, white mist temporarily obscured Main Station. Daryll didn’t allow us to approach the buildings because roseate terns were nesting in the heath. “They will dive-bomb you if you get too close,” he said. “The birds aggressively protect their nests from people and horses that may trample them and from gulls that try to eat their eggs. Last year, we had six pairs of roseate terns.” (Roseate terns are listed as endangered in Canada, with fewer than a dozen breeding pairs.) Gulls soared above and cautiously watched us from their nests. “The adult plumage of a herring gull is white, with grey on the back and black wing tips,” explainedMarkMallory, a seabird biologist and resource person on the cruise. His on-board presentationmade us eager to look for other birds, including great black-backed gulls (the world’s largest gulls), Northern fulmars, great skuas, shearwaters, Arctic terns and the Ipswich sparrow, the only endemic bird. He posted a bird checklist on the bulletin board for passengers to record sightings. After we returned, Adventure Canada sent us the list. When on-board ornithologist Sarah Wong accompanied us on a walk, she warned us to be careful: “Herring gulls nest Photographing wild horses from a distance Daryll Mooney, rotating Parks Canada operations co-ordinator Environment Canada and Parks Canada buildings at Main Station Horse harems 18 | www.snowbirds.org
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