Sheep Island (New Brunswick)
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 Interactive map of Sheep Island | |
| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Location | Bay of Fundy |
| Area | 20[1] acres (8.1 ha) |
| Administration | |
Canada | |
| Province | New Brunswick |
| County | Charlotte |
| Parish | Grand Manan Parish |
Sheep Island is an undeveloped island in the Grand Manan Parish of Charlotte County, New Brunswick, Canada in the Bay of Fundy.[2][3][4]
In 1991, Hay and Sheep islands were still owned by Owen and Jack Ingalls.[1] Bowdoin College purchased the islands in 2004.[5]
In 1913 a Grand Manan fisherman named Ernest Joy shot a large seabird near Machias Seal Island. Allan Moses identified it as an Atlantic yellow-nosed albatross, a bird normally found in the Southern Ocean. Joy gave the albatross, only the second ever sighted in North America, to Moses, who prepared a study skin from it.[6][5]
The American ornithologist Leonard Cutler Sanford made two visits to Grand Manan, attempting to purchase the specimen for the American Museum of Natural History. For several years Moses refused to sell it, but eventually agreed to donate it to the museum in return for a chance to take part in a future scientific expedition.[1] This led to his participation in a 1928-29 ornithological expedition to Tanganyika Territory and the Belgian Congo led by John Sterling Rockefeller.[7][6][8]
The main goal of the expedition was to find and collect the rare Grauer's broadbill, which was known only by one 1908 specimen in the Walter Rothschild Zoological Museum in England, and which had eluded collectors for twenty years.[9]On July 26, 1929, in a mountainous area at the northern end of Lake Tanganyika, Moses was the first to find and shoot a Grauer's broadbill.[9]
In order to thank Moses for his work on the expedition and for collecting the first Grauer's broadbill, Rockefeller undertook to purchase Kent Island and the two nearby islands, Hay Island and Sheep Island, and make them a bird sanctuary. The owner of Kent Island sold it for $25,000, but the owner of the two smaller islands refused to sell. He was a fisherman who continued to live on Hay Island. However, he agreed to allow access to his property for "scientific purposes", such as counting nests.[1]: 104 Rockefeller hired two resident wardens for Kent Island, Moses himself and Ralph Griffin of Grand Manan. Each received an annual salary of $1000. They moved to the island in June 1930. Over the succeeding years, the eider population increased dramatically, reaching several hundred nesting pairs by 1935.[1]: 114
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 Ingersoll, L. K (1991). Wings over the sea: the story of Allan Moses. Fredericton, N.B., Canada: Goose Lane Editions. ISBN 978-0-86492-101-7.
- ↑ "No. 166". Provincial Archives of New Brunswick. Department of Natural Resources and Energy Development. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
- ↑ "489" (PDF). Transportation and Infrastructure. Government of New Brunswick. Retrieved 4 July 2021. Remainder of parish on mapbooks 490, 497, 500, and 501 at same site.
- ↑ "Search the Canadian Geographical Names Database (CGNDB)". Government of Canada. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
- 1 2 Wheelwright, Nathaniel T. (Winter 2008). "First, there was an albatross" (PDF). Bowdoin Magazine. Vol. 79, no. 2. pp. 26–33. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
- 1 2 "History". Bowdoin College. Retrieved 17 March 2025.
- ↑ Fowler, Shane (10 July 2023). "The wild history of Kent Island: How a tiny isle off Grand Manan became a scientific sanctuary". CBC News New Brunswick. Retrieved 18 March 2025.
- ↑ "To study birds in Africa: J.S. Rockefeller and C.B.G. Murphy sail on survey for museums". The New York Times. July 6, 1928. p. 24.
- 1 2 Rockefeller, J. Sterling; Murphy, Charles B. G. (1933). "The rediscovery of Pseudocalyptomena" (PDF). The Auk. 50 (1): 23–29. doi:10.2307/4076544. JSTOR 4076544.
| Islands in Grand Manan Parish |
⛯ denotes light station, ‡ denotes protected areas |
|---|---|
| Key historical figures | |
| Attractions and key buildings | |
| Settlements and Geography | |
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