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Cape Sable Island

Cape Sable Island, locally referred to as Cape Island, is a small Canadian island at the southernmost point of the Nova Scotia peninsula. It is sometimes confused with Sable Island. Historically, the Argyle, Nova Scotia region was known as Cape Sable and encompassed a much larger area than simply the island it does today. It extended from Cape Negro through Chebogue.

This article is about the island in Shelburne County. For the island about 300 km southeast of Halifax, see Sable Island. For the cape in Florida, see Cape Sable.

The island is situated in Shelburne County south of Barrington Head, separated from the mainland by the narrow strait of Barrington Passage, but has been connected since 1949 by a causeway. The largest community on the island is the town of Clark's Harbour. Other communities are listed below. At the extreme southern tip is Cape Sable.

Cape Sable Island

Centreville

Clam Point

Clark's Harbour

Lower Clarks Harbour

Newellton

North East Point

South Side

Stoney Island

The Hawk

West Head

The following communities are included within the Community of Cape Sable Island:[21]

Shipwrecks[edit]

Cape Sable is the centre of a busy fishing area and an important landfall for shipping in the Age of Sail. This traffic produced many shipwrecks such as the SS Hungarian in 1862 and the schooner Codseeker in 1877.

Birdwatching[edit]

The island is a notable birding destination, being an important migratory stopping point for birds such as the Atlantic brant and piping plover. The unique climate, abundant tidal marshes, and geographical location on the north–south flight path of numerous migratory waterfowl have led to it being designated an Important Bird Area. The annual brant geese flyby occurs during March and April. Tens of thousands pass over at dusk after spending the day feeding in local marshes, spending the night in the Atlantic to the east of the island.[24]

Cape Islander

Nicholls, Andrew. A Fleeting Empire: Early Stuart Britain and the Merchant Adventurers to Canada. McGill-Queen's University Press. 2010.

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Endnotes

Cape Sable Island, 1873

Cape Sable Island.ca

CapeIsland.ca - video and pictures of the island

Canadian Topographical Maps 1:250,000: Shelburne