This may have also served beneficial to "pirate" vessels looking to temporarily mask or hide from the regular trade route along the Gulf of St. Laurence River at the time on the lee side of Sandy Point where an anchorage was available, away from the prevailing winds.
Sandy Point is thought to have been long inhabited by aboriginals, namely a Dorset culture, and later the Beothuk and Mi'kmaq nations, and was the hub of the St. George’s Bay fishery.
In the case of Sandy Point, the provincial government gave financial enticements for residents to leave the community and move to nearby St. George's which was located on the Newfoundland Railway main line and would thus be cheaper to provide services to a concentrated population.
Various levels of government are undertaking a process to create the territory as an historical site and conservation area for the numerous species of migratory birds which inhabit the island during the summer months; these include piping plovers, with the Sandy Point colony comprising between 15-30% of Newfoundland's overall plover population.
The island hosts a diverse habitat ranging from tidal sandflats, beaches and sand dunes, saltmarshes, meadows, freshwater ponds, and some forested area, making for a unique landscape in the province.