Geographies of Solitude (2022) Movie Script
Nine, three,
three, three...
Zero, three, zero, two, three,
zero, three, zero, two, three.
We could come back here
a couple of times
to see if she has
given birth to her puppy.
Would you like a coffee
or tea?
Can you feel the tube outside?
Yes.
Instant survey.
So, we are there.
This is the aviation forecast
and you can see
Which is improving.
A series of flashes there
With some small spots.
This is what moves
In our direction.
Wind increases to 35,
decreases to 25-30.
Today he was to leave
a flight with food.
It was cancelled
due to weather.
MILLS: Mmm-hmm.
This is the trail
Of rain this morning.
MILLS: Why did you do that?
LUCAS: I have done that
over the years.
Some crystals
that people have given me, for example.
That they were stranded on the beach.
One school, one class gave me
That little medallion.
So I gave a speech
And they gave it to me as a gift.
So I'm not going to make
a direct speech
On the natural history
of Sable Island.
It is more about
Of the experience in Sable.
I was on the island in 1971
for a very quick visit.
I managed to get a vacancy
On an outbound flight
with a journalist.
All I wanted to do
Was to see the horses.
I was very passionate about horses.
I was attending art high school.
I had no interest
toward the island of Sable
And I didn't know anything about it.
Initially, I just wanted to
be there.
You know, just to be there.
I mean, it's so compelling
to be in a place
where you learn
things directly
rather than reading them
in a book.
When I arrived on the island...
it was the landscape
that fascinated me,
And the wandering,
learning on my own,
discovering on my own.
Because that is what
that was in Sable,
has been a process
of discovery.
Sable Island: 20 miles in
length and 1 mile wide,
is located in the lower
in the North Atlantic
about 100 miles
off the coast from Scotland.
After 1971, I was desperate
by the idea of going back to Sable Island....
so I was able
to find a job
With a seal research group,
from Dalhousie University
As a volunteer cook.
Since I had a lot of time
between dishes,
I started working
with the project, shooting seals
and following Henry James
taking notes
While taking the compass
on the trail of a few seals.
I would say that even now,
after 40 years...
a total of about
9,000 days on Sable Island,
When they are on the dunes
or on the beach
doing something...
I still have these moments where I say:
"This is incredible!"
I found some slides
of them building.
Life and times
In the chalet on Sable Island.
Henry James built it
with a couple of people.
The reason why it has the
top is flat is that.
was not designed
to have an A shape.
They had run out of wood.
Built for a project
of three years-it lasted 20 years.
This is where I started it all
On Sable Island, from here.
MILLS: So this is
a contact microphone.
If you keep this,
will record
the sound inside the wood.
So inside the chalet.
Okay.
That creaking
is fantastic.
That's so cool!
I mean,
it's a ghost building.
It is a figure,
a fragment of the past.
It is really the only facility
on the island right now
Which is, uh,
abandoned.
There are no batteries
and scrap metal
Or things like that,
buried down there.
It is just wood.
Mostly just wood
sinking in the dunes.
There are all kinds of stories
buried in there.
I was looking at
your pictures.
As I glued the chalet together.
- Did you take a nap?
- No.
So your film is still
in your backpack.
MILLS: Right.
How long can you
leave the film in the moonlight?
Moonlight?
I was watching
as the grass
is bent
like this.
- If I had...
- Yes.
If I had really laid
something under the grass
And let the grass itself
expose itself
With the moon shining
And passing through it.
Let's try.
Therefore, to find
The side of the emulsion,
you rest your lips.
The side on which the lips
sticks to is the emulsion.
Okay.
What is the name of this lake?
Pine Tree West.
And this one, we will develop it
With algae.
I was thinking
that we could pick a place
To bury the film
along the fence line.
- So it will be easy to find.
- Yes.
When I arrived on the island,
one of the first projects
that I was involved in.
was the collection of manure
of horses,
that could have been used
to see
how many parasites there were
in the horses,
and to monitor
pregnancy rates.
I calculated...
based on the number of samples
that I collected
in the 10 years when
I was collecting manure...
That I took with me,
at that time,
about two tons
of horse manure in my backpack
...in total.
And the other thing
that I found was that
it takes about
four hours
for a Sable Island horse
To produce a fresh sample.
If you come across a group of
Of snoozing horses,
When they get up...
almost all of them will produce
a fresh specimen.
So.
I could have sat there
and read a book...
And wait for them to get up.
And there had been
a little bit of panic
because they wanted to know
where each sample was located
Because I had to know
which horse it came from.
Lots of sow bugs.
So I was recording
the seeds
I could see in the dung.
Seeds, algae,
different kinds of grass,
when I could tell them apart,
And some interesting things.
Once I found
a balloon ribbon
In a dung heap,
So it meant that the horse
had eaten it.
The dung is alive.
I find them absolutely
frightening.
I think maybe it is due to the fact that,
as children, these things
were wandering around
in the basements...
It was common.
I have a cockroach,
an oniscid
a centipede
and an ant.
MILLS: Our catch of the day.
Oh, look!
Here, here, here!
Oh, my God.
Oh, my God.
It could move,
you might lose it,
But there is a spider
very interesting right there.
I will try to capture it.
Do you see the spider web?
Yes.
It's right in there,
huddled up.
God, they are fast!
- Do you see that?
- Yes.
It was a battle.
It is an incredible sight.
You can see both ends
of the island at this time.
It doesn't happen often.
The end of the island.
In that direction.
What is the logic behind
put horses in this spot?
It was something that was done
on the offshore islands.
People used to put sheep,
cattle, horses.
Because there were no predators
And there was no need for fences.
They could have left them
free to graze.
Or, in some cases,
forget about them.
This is basically
what happened with the horses,
Who were left behind.
How much have these numbers changed
these numbers now?
Enormously.
When I started
working here on horses,
the population ranged
150 to 250.
So now it goes
450 to a little over 500.
Have you seen my notebooks ...
I used to keep track
Of their signs
On their muzzles
and manes.
This was the main way
to identify them.
A spreadsheet
Is basically a database.
Basically, a spreadsheet
is the simplest way
to enter
a large amount of data.
For example,
if I wanted to know.
the horses that are found
in that place,
I would sort everything
in column G.
Or I could put everything
in column G by adding the date,
so I could see
who it was
In that position before
and after.
This particular spreadsheet
has more than 10,000 entries.
So it is quite full,
for a spreadsheet.
When horses die,
sometimes die
on the beach
Where they are buried by sand.
Sometimes, more often,
In vegetated areas,
and are returned
to the island very quickly.
All the extra nutrients
that end up in the sand
cause large
vegetation.
What we do know
about this animal is
where he has been
during his life
from the time he was a foal
all the way to adulthood,
what his social status was,
what his record was
reproductive.
And then, of course,
once we die,
we collect tissue,
genetics and skulls.
This kind of life story
becomes incredibly valuable.
Nine, three, three, three...
zero, three, zero, two...
So. we know which
"boy" it is.
It is not very common...
But this horse had
a condition of hoof overgrowth.
In fact you can see,
that the toes are curled.
I will return
with a scalpel
To take some tissue,
for genetic information.
This is roll 41.
35 mm buried by roots
juniper.
You see that, underneath him,
all the flesh is gone,
there are just a lot
of cockroaches and flies.
Very active...
busy down there.
Feeding.
And then birds can feed on
from these invertebrates,
So it is a...
It is a source of food
For beetles, invertebrates and birds
for quite some time.
The horses stay here...
To find some shelter
and also to scratch against the branches.
The exposed underground roots
and twigs.
And they rub back and forth,
Grooming their coats.
All the...
All the manure they leave
gives this growth
incredibly rich.
Beach grass.
Solidago for bees.
There are two over there.
Two there.
They are moving around.
In a place like this...
the scent of roses
and juniper spreads.
It's like going down into..,
a remote valley.
And it becomes silent.
Can you smell this smell?
That spicy smell,
it's yarrow.
Now there are only the seeds.
My favorite herb.
Can you...
crawl between the stems
And listen to the wind blowing
through the leaves.
In a small place like this.
It is like being in the sea,
an ocean of green.
Moving like waves.
I started
collecting invertebrates
for the invertebrate collection
for museums.
I first focused
only on beetles,
And then I became interested
in all invertebrates.
All invertebrates
are recorded in a spreadsheet.
In practice,
When I actually work,
I always mark the location.
All those jars
on that counter
are full of things
that I collected on Sable Island.
It is a wealth of specimens,
but also a high number
Of invertebrates killed
on Sable Island,
And I gave it some thought.
In the past two years,
we have found
70, 7-zero,
other invertebrates on Sable Island.
Just because I paid
attention
to invertebrates, while I was
working on other things
And when I see something,
I pick it up.
It is fascinating that
for such a small island
that has been studied so much
for so long,
That again this year,
we are able to find species
that have been neglected,
that have not been
never recorded.
Also,
the great thing is that
As we continue to find species
like this one,
we will also begin to find
more endemic species,
species that do not exist
anywhere but on Sable Island.
Can these microphones be used
to pick up insect noises and more?
Indeed!
So the insect should
touch the electrode?
- Yes.
- Okay.
When I came
for the first time to the island,
the gray seals
were located
On the eastern end of the island.
They started to descend
on the dunes, near the tip,
and then to colonize
the western tip of the island,
and beaches
on the north and south sides.
That is, they make
more than 50,000 puppies.
This means that there must be
more than 50,000 mature females
just to get started.
These birds
are found
Just off North Beach.
So all of this
must be recorded.
A herring gull,
Intact, without wounds,
oil-free, adult.
This is
a northern lightning bolt.
It has a different
type of beak.
It has a tube-like beak,
different from that of seagulls.
A northern sula, young.
They have plumage
different from that of adults,
which are white
with black wing tips.
The young man has
very dark wings
With small white spots.
So all the bodies,
the corpses of the birds
and the fragments
that are collected
must be taken away
from the beach.
Because they could be
mistakenly counted
in the next survey.
Because they feed in the open sea
And they collect food
from the surface of the ocean,
seabirds are considered
as if they were sentinels.
They are very susceptible
to picking up pieces of plastic
And ingest them,
then continue to monitor
the stomach contents
of these birds
gives an idea
Of the trends in the ocean,
of the amount of plastic
that is polluting
the global ocean.
Over a period of 22 years,
of 300 corpses I collected,
72% of them had their stomachs
filled with plastic.
Twenty years ago,
this entire area
was a series
of interconnected freshwater ponds,
that extended
all the way to here.
And standing here,
there was a series of dunes
And you couldn't see
even the ocean.
And I stand here, where once there was
fresh water.
The island has been losing
freshwater ponds for decades.
This is the Pine Tree Pond West.
So there is
much more vegetation.
Do you see how it is trampled
By the horses that drink here?
All the. holes
made by hooves
as they walk
And they stir up the bottom.
A horse waterhole that,
is currently inactive,
and since recently
they have not used it,
the small plants have taken root
and are growing.
But once they start
using it again,
They paw the sand
And make it deeper,
And those plants
will disappear.
Most of the horses on the island
drink at watering holes.
Therefore, probably,
once these ponds disappeared,
The horses will be fine,
but this will affect...
the nesting ducks
And the land birds,
And all the invertebrates in the pond.
All the insects
and small fish will disappear,
And freshwater plants.
In fact, this
is not a bad job.
It's kind of like knitting.
It's rewarding.
Whenever something happens
on the mainland,
is because some
balloon ribbon
It goes all the way to here.
Green, red and white
for Christmas.
Red and white
for Canada Day.
Red, white and blue
July 4.
Orange and black
on Halloween.
At Easter, the colors
are usually pastel.
These are the lips
or balloon rings.
I separate them
And I count the number of them,
this is the way to quantify
how much balloon debris
are found.
How long have you been
have you been doing this balloon thing?
I don't know.
I think 15 years.
There have been a couple of them
with obituaries.
On some
of them was written
"It is a boy"
or "It's a girl."
Some are just greetings,
and political balloons.
But also those in the United States
for sheriffs.
You know, "vote liberal."
Or.
"Liberals lie."
This kind of survey
is not done anywhere...
With all these details that ...
Everything has been separated
and measured.
Tin foil balloons.
Any information on balloons.
Even the occasional letter...
And some interesting answers.
I put here what is left.
MILLS: So these are all
balloon ribbons
you have collected
in a year?
Oh no, there are two more bags
like this one.
The number of balloons
we find on the islands
have decreased,
not so much because
there has been
an awareness
On how serious
these things,
But because the cost of helium
is soaring,
And he's getting poor.
And so the fact that we don't have helium
is solving the problem for us.
But there are a couple of
of balloons that I found on the island....
That they were from Indiana.
And when I find some information,
Like a note or whatever,
attached to a balloon,
I usually write to the people
who sent it,
not to nag them
and tell them not to fly balloons
but just to give them
some basic information
so that they can
draw their own conclusions
Which was probably not
a good idea.
There was a family...
who, on Halloween night
in Lafayette, Indiana,
this family wrote
their own information on a record.
They attached it
to the ribbon of a balloon.
Just one, just one.
They were not more than one...
Was just the balloon
with a disk.
They let him go and he ended up
on the Isle of Sable.
It has traveled more than 2,000 miles,
In one direction.
It has not been moved
more or less, of the air currents
And from the twists and turns
it would take in the atmosphere.
And so I landed on the island of Sable.
All kinds of waste
is deposited on Sable beach,
And the plastic shatters
into smaller and smaller pieces.
Do you see how they are
hidden in there?
So they are all microplastics.
Those are the nurdles.
Nurdles in general
are made of virgin plastic
and are shipped
as raw material
for the production
of plastic articles.
Sometimes they are
shipped in bales,
Like big bags,
like feed sacks.
And if they scatter,
Because the load is lost,
they definitely end up
in the environment.
Nurdles have been a problem
recognized since the 1960s.
So there are definitely those who pay
attention to nurdles.
I separated them by color
so that they can be further separated
by use and origin.
These are pieces
Of, like, a rope.
But they break into pieces
smaller and smaller
In filaments and whatnot.
So what
I do is
collect the water
that contains these elements
and use my tweezers
to pull them out.
Anything that
slows down the wind
so that the
sand into an area
can generate the growth
of new dunes.
Because of these balloons
that are here,
the wind is slowed down
And begins to drop
the grains of sand.
And that is how the dunes
Are built by the vegetation.
Or from algae,
Or from pieces of driftwood.
So even some waste
can do this.
Can you see all the sand
that has accumulated -- from the wind?
There is marine debris
on the beach
Which are too large to be moved
and therefore need to be cataloged.
They need to be photographed,
measured.
I have documented them...
for a long time, to see
whether they melt,
degrade
or move.
So with this,
once it starts
vegetating,
could turn into
a dune.
I would say that perhaps ten percent
of it is exposed.
There is probably some
still in the sea.
Bottom.
It's been, I think ..,
at least 20 years
since he appeared
for the first time on the island.
Here, probably
only a couple of years.
But at the moment
it is well anchored.
The chalet.
Everything revolves
around the chalet.
I decided to come back here
To devote more time on the island.
The fact that it lasted so long
was not by choice.
I mean, we don't...
I didn't think it through.
It just, you know,
it just happened.
I mean, everything that happens
is a whole series
Of minor decisions that merge
one into the other
which have no
any meaning in themselves...
But, you know.
they accumulate and they add up,
And they end up in something
going in one direction
or in another,
Or in multiple directions.
The island today is a narrow
strip of land,
a lonely little world
Of seals and wild horses
And abandoned housing.
Often known as
a graveyard of ships,
battered and constantly reshaped
by the surrounding seas,
rescued by a group of volunteers
From spoliation and oblivion.
This island is long
thirty-two kilometers,
and the restoration program
must be complicated
because there are
very few people to help.
So what are
the most urgent things to do
In this restoration program?
Well, the first thing
we're going to try to do is,
In areas like this,
prevent
the salt water comes
all the way here quickly.
This would increase erosion
and would prevent vegetation
to take root.
Have you made any attempts
with vegetation?
- Yes there.
- Can you show me where?
It is a common thing that
horses grazed here.
- Yes, that is true.
- So how do you protect them?
I cannot do anything.
I am very..,
very impressed.
Tell me how do you like
the island?
Certainly, yes.
It's my home, I think.
This is a list
Of all the things I found,
all the items I found
during the cleaning process.
I have to find the labels
for everything and make sure that ...
indicate that they were
produced in Canada.
And if not from there, from where?
So 111 items,
of which only 17
come from the United States.
And then another eight
arrive from other countries
then Brazil, Japan, South Africa,
Haiti, Malaysia, Russia, Cuba.
And then a couple
from Central America.
Trademark analysis
is still not so common.
So the work
on Sable is new,
But it is not a new
question to ask.
This is an important
sampling site.
Sable Island is an important
platform for monitoring
Of the health of the Atlantic
Northwest and beyond...
Given its location.
Waste analysis is something
that we started doing in the 1980s.
You look at
the circulation, but also at...
what are
the dominant materials that...
contribute plastic
to the pollution of the environment,
How many consist of fishing gear,
how many are of domestic use,
How many are industrialists,
this kind of thing.
And the reason why you want
this information
is to try
to solve the problem,
find ways
to reduce the input.
And eventually,
cleaning as well.
But the reduction of input
is the most important thing.
Yes, in essence, we need
the information
To solve the problem.
The educational component
is to reach out to people
Who are not aware of it,
who have never thought about it.
Or they have thought about it,
But they are not really aware of.
of how they might
change the situation.
And reinforce the idea
and the immediacy
of the problem,
The urgency of the problem,
for people who are aware of it.
Anyone, all of us
we use plastic.
Why do you think
it doesn't just come
from the inside...
the change?
Why do you think
it's like that?
Why are we
destroying the planet
Which is our only home.
Practically.
Children can understand...
And seize very quickly.
They are not out there
with a job,
And, you know, they buy things
for their family, etc.
You begin to lose
the connection to this
when the reality of the world
and of the planet
takes hold of you.
I was like this
when I was 11 years old.
I remember thinking about it
when I was little.
Living in a suburban area,
there were vacant lots,
wild and messy places.
And I used to spend
a lot of time in there,
among the trees
and shrubs.
I was living in my own world.
And then, you know,
they would be swept away.
A house was being built
And these places were gone.
And, I mean, at that age
it really dawned on me,
That this is due to the fact that
there are too many people.
There are too many of us
And we have only...
We have continued
destroying things.
That's all I had in my head.
I didn't have any ideas,
any kind of education,
or training,
or other...
Any thoughts about the environment,
ecology or otherwise.
I made a connection
between people and development,
And what I thought about nature,
which was, you know,
only the green
in a vacant lot.
I feel claustrophobic
and trapped
When I start working
with this stuff.
It is just a general feeling,
it's not a specific feeling
influenced by the materials themselves
But just the feeling
that they are all in the ocean.
I just want people
to make sense
Of the increasingly serious problem,
of plastics in the oceans.
Night.
Mist of the Isle of Sable
collected on film,
processed by hand
in seaweed.
It's beautiful, isn't it?
Yes.
It seems that my life
is Sable Island.
What makes you say that?
This is all I have.
This is all I do.
Always.
And do you want to quit?
I can stop,
but I could have done it
A long time ago.
I was not paying attention
to what was happening.
Because it was
really super interesting,
super rewarding and engaging
and fulfilling to be here.
But.
But I have lost count
Of everything else.
Let's get this stuff back
to the station
And we invent a new plan.
Well, we could focus
on the sound.
You don't really need me
to get the sound, do you?
No, but it would be nice
to spend some time together.
- Seventeen...
- Yes!
Ten...
Ten, and five...
This is the last roll.
The last roll of film?
- Really?
- Yes.
Did you get excited
about the horse?
It is the best of life.
With the.
Animals are able to
to live their natural lives
That includes death
and being recycled.
It is not unusual to find
the corpse of a dead horse.
But as it decomposes,
all the nutrients
that created the horse,
All organic materials,
they become part of the soil...
...of the sand.
And then, new grass grows
around the corpse.
New achilleas,
new solidagus.
And then you see a mare
suckling a foal
wandering around,
stops to graze the grass
Next to the corpse.
And you can see
all those nutrients flowing ...
from the dead horse
to the ground,
To the mare, to the milk,
to the foal,
Growing again.
And it becomes part
of the whole system.
And why we are here,
breathing the air,
eating a cranberry.
Drinking water,
We are part of the whole...
Ebb and flow of...
Of all the materials
Connecting us.
ZOE LUCAS LIVES ON SABLE ISLAND.
SHE IS THE FOUNDER OF THE SABLE ISLAND INSTITUTE, A NONPROFIT THAT SUPPORTS ISLAND PROTECTION AND CONSERVATION THROUGH RESEARCH, COLLABORATION, AND EDUCATION.
three, three...
Zero, three, zero, two, three,
zero, three, zero, two, three.
We could come back here
a couple of times
to see if she has
given birth to her puppy.
Would you like a coffee
or tea?
Can you feel the tube outside?
Yes.
Instant survey.
So, we are there.
This is the aviation forecast
and you can see
Which is improving.
A series of flashes there
With some small spots.
This is what moves
In our direction.
Wind increases to 35,
decreases to 25-30.
Today he was to leave
a flight with food.
It was cancelled
due to weather.
MILLS: Mmm-hmm.
This is the trail
Of rain this morning.
MILLS: Why did you do that?
LUCAS: I have done that
over the years.
Some crystals
that people have given me, for example.
That they were stranded on the beach.
One school, one class gave me
That little medallion.
So I gave a speech
And they gave it to me as a gift.
So I'm not going to make
a direct speech
On the natural history
of Sable Island.
It is more about
Of the experience in Sable.
I was on the island in 1971
for a very quick visit.
I managed to get a vacancy
On an outbound flight
with a journalist.
All I wanted to do
Was to see the horses.
I was very passionate about horses.
I was attending art high school.
I had no interest
toward the island of Sable
And I didn't know anything about it.
Initially, I just wanted to
be there.
You know, just to be there.
I mean, it's so compelling
to be in a place
where you learn
things directly
rather than reading them
in a book.
When I arrived on the island...
it was the landscape
that fascinated me,
And the wandering,
learning on my own,
discovering on my own.
Because that is what
that was in Sable,
has been a process
of discovery.
Sable Island: 20 miles in
length and 1 mile wide,
is located in the lower
in the North Atlantic
about 100 miles
off the coast from Scotland.
After 1971, I was desperate
by the idea of going back to Sable Island....
so I was able
to find a job
With a seal research group,
from Dalhousie University
As a volunteer cook.
Since I had a lot of time
between dishes,
I started working
with the project, shooting seals
and following Henry James
taking notes
While taking the compass
on the trail of a few seals.
I would say that even now,
after 40 years...
a total of about
9,000 days on Sable Island,
When they are on the dunes
or on the beach
doing something...
I still have these moments where I say:
"This is incredible!"
I found some slides
of them building.
Life and times
In the chalet on Sable Island.
Henry James built it
with a couple of people.
The reason why it has the
top is flat is that.
was not designed
to have an A shape.
They had run out of wood.
Built for a project
of three years-it lasted 20 years.
This is where I started it all
On Sable Island, from here.
MILLS: So this is
a contact microphone.
If you keep this,
will record
the sound inside the wood.
So inside the chalet.
Okay.
That creaking
is fantastic.
That's so cool!
I mean,
it's a ghost building.
It is a figure,
a fragment of the past.
It is really the only facility
on the island right now
Which is, uh,
abandoned.
There are no batteries
and scrap metal
Or things like that,
buried down there.
It is just wood.
Mostly just wood
sinking in the dunes.
There are all kinds of stories
buried in there.
I was looking at
your pictures.
As I glued the chalet together.
- Did you take a nap?
- No.
So your film is still
in your backpack.
MILLS: Right.
How long can you
leave the film in the moonlight?
Moonlight?
I was watching
as the grass
is bent
like this.
- If I had...
- Yes.
If I had really laid
something under the grass
And let the grass itself
expose itself
With the moon shining
And passing through it.
Let's try.
Therefore, to find
The side of the emulsion,
you rest your lips.
The side on which the lips
sticks to is the emulsion.
Okay.
What is the name of this lake?
Pine Tree West.
And this one, we will develop it
With algae.
I was thinking
that we could pick a place
To bury the film
along the fence line.
- So it will be easy to find.
- Yes.
When I arrived on the island,
one of the first projects
that I was involved in.
was the collection of manure
of horses,
that could have been used
to see
how many parasites there were
in the horses,
and to monitor
pregnancy rates.
I calculated...
based on the number of samples
that I collected
in the 10 years when
I was collecting manure...
That I took with me,
at that time,
about two tons
of horse manure in my backpack
...in total.
And the other thing
that I found was that
it takes about
four hours
for a Sable Island horse
To produce a fresh sample.
If you come across a group of
Of snoozing horses,
When they get up...
almost all of them will produce
a fresh specimen.
So.
I could have sat there
and read a book...
And wait for them to get up.
And there had been
a little bit of panic
because they wanted to know
where each sample was located
Because I had to know
which horse it came from.
Lots of sow bugs.
So I was recording
the seeds
I could see in the dung.
Seeds, algae,
different kinds of grass,
when I could tell them apart,
And some interesting things.
Once I found
a balloon ribbon
In a dung heap,
So it meant that the horse
had eaten it.
The dung is alive.
I find them absolutely
frightening.
I think maybe it is due to the fact that,
as children, these things
were wandering around
in the basements...
It was common.
I have a cockroach,
an oniscid
a centipede
and an ant.
MILLS: Our catch of the day.
Oh, look!
Here, here, here!
Oh, my God.
Oh, my God.
It could move,
you might lose it,
But there is a spider
very interesting right there.
I will try to capture it.
Do you see the spider web?
Yes.
It's right in there,
huddled up.
God, they are fast!
- Do you see that?
- Yes.
It was a battle.
It is an incredible sight.
You can see both ends
of the island at this time.
It doesn't happen often.
The end of the island.
In that direction.
What is the logic behind
put horses in this spot?
It was something that was done
on the offshore islands.
People used to put sheep,
cattle, horses.
Because there were no predators
And there was no need for fences.
They could have left them
free to graze.
Or, in some cases,
forget about them.
This is basically
what happened with the horses,
Who were left behind.
How much have these numbers changed
these numbers now?
Enormously.
When I started
working here on horses,
the population ranged
150 to 250.
So now it goes
450 to a little over 500.
Have you seen my notebooks ...
I used to keep track
Of their signs
On their muzzles
and manes.
This was the main way
to identify them.
A spreadsheet
Is basically a database.
Basically, a spreadsheet
is the simplest way
to enter
a large amount of data.
For example,
if I wanted to know.
the horses that are found
in that place,
I would sort everything
in column G.
Or I could put everything
in column G by adding the date,
so I could see
who it was
In that position before
and after.
This particular spreadsheet
has more than 10,000 entries.
So it is quite full,
for a spreadsheet.
When horses die,
sometimes die
on the beach
Where they are buried by sand.
Sometimes, more often,
In vegetated areas,
and are returned
to the island very quickly.
All the extra nutrients
that end up in the sand
cause large
vegetation.
What we do know
about this animal is
where he has been
during his life
from the time he was a foal
all the way to adulthood,
what his social status was,
what his record was
reproductive.
And then, of course,
once we die,
we collect tissue,
genetics and skulls.
This kind of life story
becomes incredibly valuable.
Nine, three, three, three...
zero, three, zero, two...
So. we know which
"boy" it is.
It is not very common...
But this horse had
a condition of hoof overgrowth.
In fact you can see,
that the toes are curled.
I will return
with a scalpel
To take some tissue,
for genetic information.
This is roll 41.
35 mm buried by roots
juniper.
You see that, underneath him,
all the flesh is gone,
there are just a lot
of cockroaches and flies.
Very active...
busy down there.
Feeding.
And then birds can feed on
from these invertebrates,
So it is a...
It is a source of food
For beetles, invertebrates and birds
for quite some time.
The horses stay here...
To find some shelter
and also to scratch against the branches.
The exposed underground roots
and twigs.
And they rub back and forth,
Grooming their coats.
All the...
All the manure they leave
gives this growth
incredibly rich.
Beach grass.
Solidago for bees.
There are two over there.
Two there.
They are moving around.
In a place like this...
the scent of roses
and juniper spreads.
It's like going down into..,
a remote valley.
And it becomes silent.
Can you smell this smell?
That spicy smell,
it's yarrow.
Now there are only the seeds.
My favorite herb.
Can you...
crawl between the stems
And listen to the wind blowing
through the leaves.
In a small place like this.
It is like being in the sea,
an ocean of green.
Moving like waves.
I started
collecting invertebrates
for the invertebrate collection
for museums.
I first focused
only on beetles,
And then I became interested
in all invertebrates.
All invertebrates
are recorded in a spreadsheet.
In practice,
When I actually work,
I always mark the location.
All those jars
on that counter
are full of things
that I collected on Sable Island.
It is a wealth of specimens,
but also a high number
Of invertebrates killed
on Sable Island,
And I gave it some thought.
In the past two years,
we have found
70, 7-zero,
other invertebrates on Sable Island.
Just because I paid
attention
to invertebrates, while I was
working on other things
And when I see something,
I pick it up.
It is fascinating that
for such a small island
that has been studied so much
for so long,
That again this year,
we are able to find species
that have been neglected,
that have not been
never recorded.
Also,
the great thing is that
As we continue to find species
like this one,
we will also begin to find
more endemic species,
species that do not exist
anywhere but on Sable Island.
Can these microphones be used
to pick up insect noises and more?
Indeed!
So the insect should
touch the electrode?
- Yes.
- Okay.
When I came
for the first time to the island,
the gray seals
were located
On the eastern end of the island.
They started to descend
on the dunes, near the tip,
and then to colonize
the western tip of the island,
and beaches
on the north and south sides.
That is, they make
more than 50,000 puppies.
This means that there must be
more than 50,000 mature females
just to get started.
These birds
are found
Just off North Beach.
So all of this
must be recorded.
A herring gull,
Intact, without wounds,
oil-free, adult.
This is
a northern lightning bolt.
It has a different
type of beak.
It has a tube-like beak,
different from that of seagulls.
A northern sula, young.
They have plumage
different from that of adults,
which are white
with black wing tips.
The young man has
very dark wings
With small white spots.
So all the bodies,
the corpses of the birds
and the fragments
that are collected
must be taken away
from the beach.
Because they could be
mistakenly counted
in the next survey.
Because they feed in the open sea
And they collect food
from the surface of the ocean,
seabirds are considered
as if they were sentinels.
They are very susceptible
to picking up pieces of plastic
And ingest them,
then continue to monitor
the stomach contents
of these birds
gives an idea
Of the trends in the ocean,
of the amount of plastic
that is polluting
the global ocean.
Over a period of 22 years,
of 300 corpses I collected,
72% of them had their stomachs
filled with plastic.
Twenty years ago,
this entire area
was a series
of interconnected freshwater ponds,
that extended
all the way to here.
And standing here,
there was a series of dunes
And you couldn't see
even the ocean.
And I stand here, where once there was
fresh water.
The island has been losing
freshwater ponds for decades.
This is the Pine Tree Pond West.
So there is
much more vegetation.
Do you see how it is trampled
By the horses that drink here?
All the. holes
made by hooves
as they walk
And they stir up the bottom.
A horse waterhole that,
is currently inactive,
and since recently
they have not used it,
the small plants have taken root
and are growing.
But once they start
using it again,
They paw the sand
And make it deeper,
And those plants
will disappear.
Most of the horses on the island
drink at watering holes.
Therefore, probably,
once these ponds disappeared,
The horses will be fine,
but this will affect...
the nesting ducks
And the land birds,
And all the invertebrates in the pond.
All the insects
and small fish will disappear,
And freshwater plants.
In fact, this
is not a bad job.
It's kind of like knitting.
It's rewarding.
Whenever something happens
on the mainland,
is because some
balloon ribbon
It goes all the way to here.
Green, red and white
for Christmas.
Red and white
for Canada Day.
Red, white and blue
July 4.
Orange and black
on Halloween.
At Easter, the colors
are usually pastel.
These are the lips
or balloon rings.
I separate them
And I count the number of them,
this is the way to quantify
how much balloon debris
are found.
How long have you been
have you been doing this balloon thing?
I don't know.
I think 15 years.
There have been a couple of them
with obituaries.
On some
of them was written
"It is a boy"
or "It's a girl."
Some are just greetings,
and political balloons.
But also those in the United States
for sheriffs.
You know, "vote liberal."
Or.
"Liberals lie."
This kind of survey
is not done anywhere...
With all these details that ...
Everything has been separated
and measured.
Tin foil balloons.
Any information on balloons.
Even the occasional letter...
And some interesting answers.
I put here what is left.
MILLS: So these are all
balloon ribbons
you have collected
in a year?
Oh no, there are two more bags
like this one.
The number of balloons
we find on the islands
have decreased,
not so much because
there has been
an awareness
On how serious
these things,
But because the cost of helium
is soaring,
And he's getting poor.
And so the fact that we don't have helium
is solving the problem for us.
But there are a couple of
of balloons that I found on the island....
That they were from Indiana.
And when I find some information,
Like a note or whatever,
attached to a balloon,
I usually write to the people
who sent it,
not to nag them
and tell them not to fly balloons
but just to give them
some basic information
so that they can
draw their own conclusions
Which was probably not
a good idea.
There was a family...
who, on Halloween night
in Lafayette, Indiana,
this family wrote
their own information on a record.
They attached it
to the ribbon of a balloon.
Just one, just one.
They were not more than one...
Was just the balloon
with a disk.
They let him go and he ended up
on the Isle of Sable.
It has traveled more than 2,000 miles,
In one direction.
It has not been moved
more or less, of the air currents
And from the twists and turns
it would take in the atmosphere.
And so I landed on the island of Sable.
All kinds of waste
is deposited on Sable beach,
And the plastic shatters
into smaller and smaller pieces.
Do you see how they are
hidden in there?
So they are all microplastics.
Those are the nurdles.
Nurdles in general
are made of virgin plastic
and are shipped
as raw material
for the production
of plastic articles.
Sometimes they are
shipped in bales,
Like big bags,
like feed sacks.
And if they scatter,
Because the load is lost,
they definitely end up
in the environment.
Nurdles have been a problem
recognized since the 1960s.
So there are definitely those who pay
attention to nurdles.
I separated them by color
so that they can be further separated
by use and origin.
These are pieces
Of, like, a rope.
But they break into pieces
smaller and smaller
In filaments and whatnot.
So what
I do is
collect the water
that contains these elements
and use my tweezers
to pull them out.
Anything that
slows down the wind
so that the
sand into an area
can generate the growth
of new dunes.
Because of these balloons
that are here,
the wind is slowed down
And begins to drop
the grains of sand.
And that is how the dunes
Are built by the vegetation.
Or from algae,
Or from pieces of driftwood.
So even some waste
can do this.
Can you see all the sand
that has accumulated -- from the wind?
There is marine debris
on the beach
Which are too large to be moved
and therefore need to be cataloged.
They need to be photographed,
measured.
I have documented them...
for a long time, to see
whether they melt,
degrade
or move.
So with this,
once it starts
vegetating,
could turn into
a dune.
I would say that perhaps ten percent
of it is exposed.
There is probably some
still in the sea.
Bottom.
It's been, I think ..,
at least 20 years
since he appeared
for the first time on the island.
Here, probably
only a couple of years.
But at the moment
it is well anchored.
The chalet.
Everything revolves
around the chalet.
I decided to come back here
To devote more time on the island.
The fact that it lasted so long
was not by choice.
I mean, we don't...
I didn't think it through.
It just, you know,
it just happened.
I mean, everything that happens
is a whole series
Of minor decisions that merge
one into the other
which have no
any meaning in themselves...
But, you know.
they accumulate and they add up,
And they end up in something
going in one direction
or in another,
Or in multiple directions.
The island today is a narrow
strip of land,
a lonely little world
Of seals and wild horses
And abandoned housing.
Often known as
a graveyard of ships,
battered and constantly reshaped
by the surrounding seas,
rescued by a group of volunteers
From spoliation and oblivion.
This island is long
thirty-two kilometers,
and the restoration program
must be complicated
because there are
very few people to help.
So what are
the most urgent things to do
In this restoration program?
Well, the first thing
we're going to try to do is,
In areas like this,
prevent
the salt water comes
all the way here quickly.
This would increase erosion
and would prevent vegetation
to take root.
Have you made any attempts
with vegetation?
- Yes there.
- Can you show me where?
It is a common thing that
horses grazed here.
- Yes, that is true.
- So how do you protect them?
I cannot do anything.
I am very..,
very impressed.
Tell me how do you like
the island?
Certainly, yes.
It's my home, I think.
This is a list
Of all the things I found,
all the items I found
during the cleaning process.
I have to find the labels
for everything and make sure that ...
indicate that they were
produced in Canada.
And if not from there, from where?
So 111 items,
of which only 17
come from the United States.
And then another eight
arrive from other countries
then Brazil, Japan, South Africa,
Haiti, Malaysia, Russia, Cuba.
And then a couple
from Central America.
Trademark analysis
is still not so common.
So the work
on Sable is new,
But it is not a new
question to ask.
This is an important
sampling site.
Sable Island is an important
platform for monitoring
Of the health of the Atlantic
Northwest and beyond...
Given its location.
Waste analysis is something
that we started doing in the 1980s.
You look at
the circulation, but also at...
what are
the dominant materials that...
contribute plastic
to the pollution of the environment,
How many consist of fishing gear,
how many are of domestic use,
How many are industrialists,
this kind of thing.
And the reason why you want
this information
is to try
to solve the problem,
find ways
to reduce the input.
And eventually,
cleaning as well.
But the reduction of input
is the most important thing.
Yes, in essence, we need
the information
To solve the problem.
The educational component
is to reach out to people
Who are not aware of it,
who have never thought about it.
Or they have thought about it,
But they are not really aware of.
of how they might
change the situation.
And reinforce the idea
and the immediacy
of the problem,
The urgency of the problem,
for people who are aware of it.
Anyone, all of us
we use plastic.
Why do you think
it doesn't just come
from the inside...
the change?
Why do you think
it's like that?
Why are we
destroying the planet
Which is our only home.
Practically.
Children can understand...
And seize very quickly.
They are not out there
with a job,
And, you know, they buy things
for their family, etc.
You begin to lose
the connection to this
when the reality of the world
and of the planet
takes hold of you.
I was like this
when I was 11 years old.
I remember thinking about it
when I was little.
Living in a suburban area,
there were vacant lots,
wild and messy places.
And I used to spend
a lot of time in there,
among the trees
and shrubs.
I was living in my own world.
And then, you know,
they would be swept away.
A house was being built
And these places were gone.
And, I mean, at that age
it really dawned on me,
That this is due to the fact that
there are too many people.
There are too many of us
And we have only...
We have continued
destroying things.
That's all I had in my head.
I didn't have any ideas,
any kind of education,
or training,
or other...
Any thoughts about the environment,
ecology or otherwise.
I made a connection
between people and development,
And what I thought about nature,
which was, you know,
only the green
in a vacant lot.
I feel claustrophobic
and trapped
When I start working
with this stuff.
It is just a general feeling,
it's not a specific feeling
influenced by the materials themselves
But just the feeling
that they are all in the ocean.
I just want people
to make sense
Of the increasingly serious problem,
of plastics in the oceans.
Night.
Mist of the Isle of Sable
collected on film,
processed by hand
in seaweed.
It's beautiful, isn't it?
Yes.
It seems that my life
is Sable Island.
What makes you say that?
This is all I have.
This is all I do.
Always.
And do you want to quit?
I can stop,
but I could have done it
A long time ago.
I was not paying attention
to what was happening.
Because it was
really super interesting,
super rewarding and engaging
and fulfilling to be here.
But.
But I have lost count
Of everything else.
Let's get this stuff back
to the station
And we invent a new plan.
Well, we could focus
on the sound.
You don't really need me
to get the sound, do you?
No, but it would be nice
to spend some time together.
- Seventeen...
- Yes!
Ten...
Ten, and five...
This is the last roll.
The last roll of film?
- Really?
- Yes.
Did you get excited
about the horse?
It is the best of life.
With the.
Animals are able to
to live their natural lives
That includes death
and being recycled.
It is not unusual to find
the corpse of a dead horse.
But as it decomposes,
all the nutrients
that created the horse,
All organic materials,
they become part of the soil...
...of the sand.
And then, new grass grows
around the corpse.
New achilleas,
new solidagus.
And then you see a mare
suckling a foal
wandering around,
stops to graze the grass
Next to the corpse.
And you can see
all those nutrients flowing ...
from the dead horse
to the ground,
To the mare, to the milk,
to the foal,
Growing again.
And it becomes part
of the whole system.
And why we are here,
breathing the air,
eating a cranberry.
Drinking water,
We are part of the whole...
Ebb and flow of...
Of all the materials
Connecting us.
ZOE LUCAS LIVES ON SABLE ISLAND.
SHE IS THE FOUNDER OF THE SABLE ISLAND INSTITUTE, A NONPROFIT THAT SUPPORTS ISLAND PROTECTION AND CONSERVATION THROUGH RESEARCH, COLLABORATION, AND EDUCATION.