A researcher's 30-year love affair with Sable Island's wild horses and seals

A remote stretch of sand in the North Atlantic has become a lifelong focus for researcher Damian Lidgard. For three decades, he has studied and photographed the wild horses and seals of Sable Island, a slender crescent of land off Nova Scotia. His new book, Sable Untamed: The Wild Beauty of Sable Island’s Horses, will be released in June. Lidgard first set foot on Sable Island in December 1996 while working on his PhD. The island, just 40 kilometres long and one kilometre wide at its broadest point, has drawn him back repeatedly. His research on the seal population, conducted under Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), grants him regular access—sometimes for stays of six weeks at a time.

The island’s wild horses, descendants of animals introduced in the 1700s, now number around 420. They roam in tight-knit bands, each led by a stallion with mares and their foals. Lidgard’s photography captures their untamed existence with patience and quiet observation, a method he describes as contemplative. Though Parks Canada oversees visits to the protected island, Lidgard’s work allows him more freedom than most. Over the years, Sable has become his favourite place—a windswept refuge where he documents the interplay of wildlife and shifting dunes.

Lidgard’s upcoming book compiles decades of images and insights into the island’s fabled horses. His research and photography offer a rare glimpse into an ecosystem shaped by isolation and time. The publication arrives in June, marking 30 years since his first visit to Sable’s shores.