'Such a magical place': Tour operator’s family connection to Sable Island makes for special sightseeing

Eight Nova Scotians woke before sunrise on a Wednesday morning to take an early-morning helicopter ride to a place only a small number of tourists have had the chance to experience.

They’re among the lucky few to take a trip as tourists to Sable Island National Park Reserve, a sliver of shifting sand 42 kilometres in length, 190 kilometres from the Nova Scotia coastline

The travelers were on an excursion with Picture Perfect Tours, one of four private tour companies licensed by Parks Canada to take small groups ashore at a cost of $3,390 per person.

Two transportation companies also hold basic licenses to transport people to and from the remote location.

In efforts to protect and preserve its raw beauty Sable Island is a place where few people can visit.

According to numbers provided by Parks Canada, 3,261 visitors have made the trip since the spring of 2014, after the reserve was officially established in December the previous year.

“Of course, when most people see a horse or see a seal they in some cases get giddy and are overwhelmed with excitement, everything is raw,” says Jason Surrette, the Sable Island National Park Reserve operations manager for Parks Canada.

Surrette spends long periods of time living on Sable Island. “This is more than just a workplace for us, this truly is a home,” he adds.

While this particular Wednesday was warm and sunny with a slight breeze, it’s the stormy days he said he loves the most.

“To see the water and the waves, 10, 15-feet-high crashing on the shores, it changes the landscape, it takes a bit of sand from here and deposits (it) there…it’s pretty remarkable,” he explained.

Surrette met the group after they landed on the island’s helipad, and took them to what’s known as Main Station, a building that acts as a type of headquarters for Parks Canada staff.

There, he briefed the visitors of making sure their visit to Sable Island is safe and does no harm to the natural environment.

“The number one rule is we have a 20-metre space requirement between visitors and nature, in particular horses and seals,” he explained.

Sable Island is a 75-minute helicopter ride off of Nova Scotia's coast. (Heidi Petracek/CTV Atlantic)

Visitors must also ensure they leave no garbage behind, and they are not allowed to remove anything from the island.

The island's population of roughly 450 wild horses are descendants of ones introduced to the landscape in the 1700s. The majestic animals live and die without any human intervention allowed.

The feral horses have been formally protected by Canadian law since 1961.

Three horses are pictured on Sable Island. (Heidi Petracek/CTV Atlantic)

The island’s beaches are also populated by the world’s largest breeding colony of grey seals, which give birth to pups between late December and early February.

“The sands, the scents, it's a full body experience,” said Picture Perfect Tours founder, Geordie Mott.

Seals are pictured in the water off Sable Island. (Heidi Petracek/CTV Atlantic)

His company caters to both budding and advanced photographers, with Mott and other experienced photographers guiding their customers in getting the best pictures possible to preserve memories of the trip.

Mott invited CTV News to experience the tour, as he had also invited award-winning Nova Scotia photographer Len Wagg to help lead the group and share his best tips.

For Mott, making the journey is more than a passion - it’s part of a deep family connection to the iconic island.

“I literally would not be here without Sable Island,” he explained while standing on the expansive white stretch of sand at North Beach.

That’s because his great-grandparents met on the island during the First World War, when Mott's great-great grandfather, Captain Joseph Blakeney, was a Sable Island superintendent, tasked with saving vessels in danger of shipwreck at what was known as the “Graveyard of the Atlantic.”

“He brought his family, his wife and three kids, two sons, and his eldest daughter, her name was Muriel,” Mott said. “That was my great-grandmother.”

It turns out Muriel met an adventurous young man who came to work on the island by the name of William Mott.

The two eventually married in Dartmouth and raised a family. The rest is Mott’s personal family history, all documented in Muriel's photo albums. In one image, Muriel is riding a Sable Island pony in fine attire. In another, the entire family is lined up in front of a white house, each member on horseback.

“As a photographer myself I was really inspired by that, it's such a magical place, but to have that historical connection makes it resonate for me just a bit more I think,” he added.

For Wagg, that personal connection made the tour even more meaningful.

“Being out here with Geordie, on this island, what a history, and the way he explains things to people, it’s really been just an amazing, an amazing experience,” he said.

Photographer Lynn Fergusson is pictured. (Heidi Petracek/CTV Atlantic)

Client Heather Spidell agreed. Spidell took the trip to celebrate her 60th birthday.

“I've always been drawn to horses, I grew up with horses, I had a horse, there's just something very magical about horses, they're a very majestic animal,” she said, “Sable Island just called to me.”

Sable Island visitor Heather Spidell and photographer Len Wagg are pictured. (Heidi Petracek/CTV Atlantic)

After walking through the sands and tall grasses of the island for more than seven hours - covering roughly 10 kilometres – and taking hundreds of photos of the legendary horses, the seals, and strange items washed up from the ocean, getting back into the helicopter to return to Halifax at the end of the day was bittersweet.

But after making about 25 trips to Sable Island so far, this was definitely not the last one for Mott.

“I will keep doing this for as long as I can possibly walk,” he said. 

Click here for a full gallery of CTV's Heidi Petracek's trip to Sable Island.