Furuhjelm Island (russian: Остров Фуругельма) is an island in the southwest part of
Peter the Great Gulf
The Peter the Great Gulf (Russian: Залив Петра Великого) is a gulf on the southern coast of Primorsky Krai, Russia, and the largest gulf of the Sea of Japan. The gulf extends for from the Russian-North Korean border at the mout ...
in the
Sea of Japan
The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, i ...
, 110 km southwest of
Vladivostok
Vladivostok ( rus, Владивосто́к, a=Владивосток.ogg, p=vɫədʲɪvɐˈstok) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai, Russia. The city is located around the Golden Horn Bay on the Sea of Japan, c ...
. It belongs to
Khasansky District
Khasansky District (russian: Хаса́нский райо́н) is an administrativeLaw #161-KZ and municipalLaw #187-KZ district (raion), one of the twenty-two in Primorsky Krai, Russia. It is located in the southwest of the krai, wedged between ...
of
Primorsky Krai
Primorsky Krai (russian: Приморский край, r=Primorsky kray, p=prʲɪˈmorskʲɪj kraj), informally known as Primorye (, ), is a federal subject (a krai) of Russia, located in the Far East region of the country and is a part of t ...
,
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
.
History
The island was described by the sailors of the frigate ''Pallada'' on May 10, 1854, and named for
Johan Hampus Furuhjelm
Johan Hampus Furuhjelm, (russian: Фуругельм, Иван Васильевич; 11 March 1821 – 21 September 1909) was a Finnish-Russian vice-admiral and explorer, commander of the Russian Baltic Fleet, Governor of the Russian Far East, ...
, captain of the transport ''Knyaz Menshikov'', which belonged to the
Russian-American Company
The Russian-American Company Under the High Patronage of His Imperial Majesty (russian: Под высочайшим Его Императорского Величества покровительством Российская-Американс ...
.
After 1922, with the advent of the system of fishing
kolkhoz
A kolkhoz ( rus, колхо́з, a=ru-kolkhoz.ogg, p=kɐlˈxos) was a form of collective farm in the Soviet Union. Kolkhozes existed along with state farms or sovkhoz., a contraction of советское хозяйство, soviet ownership or ...
es and state fishery enterprises, several fishing facilities were located on the island. Greater renown came to the island after the opening of wild animal farms, on which for the first time selective breeders began to raise
blue mink
Blue Mink were a British six-piece pop group that existed from 1969 to 1977. Over that period they had six Top 20 hit singles in the UK Singles Chart, and released five studio based albums. According to AllMusic: "they have been immortalised on ...
s. For a while, all was well. Later, the fur animal killed almost all the local birds. The bird colonies took a long time to recover.
Following the deterioration of relations with
Japan began the construction of coastal defenses on Furuhjelm Island.
Artillery
Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...
batteries and several anti-landing reinforcements were introduced. They remained in the battle-ready state during the
Korean War
, date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
.
At the end of the 1970s the military garrison was dissolved.
There is currently no permanent population on the island. Since March 24, 1978, the territory of the island has belonged to the
Far-East State Marine Reserve.
Geography
![Furugelma island](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/52/Furugelma_island.jpg)
Furugelm Island is the most southerly island of the Maritime Province and all Russia, located almost at
the border with
North Korea
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...
. This parcel of Russian land is also called "the last Russian island". It is not large, about long and wide; and relatively low, with a maximum height of . The shore of the island consists of rocky cliffs. The island is surrounded by shallows of depth less than 10 m, on which lie exposed and submerged rocks. On the western side, it is fronted by small bays with stone columns standing haphazardly in the water.
Nature
The island is known for its
seabird colonies
Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same enviro ...
. The
black-tailed gull colony numbers more than 50,000 birds. It is neighbored by a settlement of
spectacled guillemot
The spectacled guillemot or sooty guillemot (''Cepphus carbo'') is a seabird in the auk family.
Description
This species is about with red legs, black bill, and a blackish iris.
The breeding adult spectacled guillemot is distinctive, mostly p ...
s and
Brunnich's guillemot. The island also serves as a resting place for migrating birds recorded in the
IUCN Red List
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...
, such as
petrels
Petrels are tube-nosed seabirds in the bird order Procellariiformes.
Description
The common name does not indicate relationship beyond that point, as "petrels" occur in three of the four families within that group (all except the albatross f ...
,
sea eagle
A sea eagle or fish eagle (also called erne or ern, mostly in reference to the white-tailed eagle) is any of the birds of prey in the genus ''Haliaeetus'' in the bird of prey family Accipitridae.
Taxonomy and evolution
The genus ''Haliaeetus'' ...
s,
skua
The skuas are a group of predatory seabirds with seven species forming the genus ''Stercorarius'', the only genus in the family Stercorariidae. The three smaller skuas, the long-tailed skua, the Arctic skua, and the pomarine skua are called ...
s, and
Ross's gull
Ross's gull (''Rhodostethia rosea'') is a small gull, the only species in its genus, although it has been suggested it should be moved to the genus '' Hydrocoloeus'', which otherwise only includes the little gull.
This bird is named after the B ...
s.
In all, the island has more than 300 species of birds registered, 80 of them nesting. In Russia, such a variety is not found even in the Volga delta. Red-book varieties are found:
red-crowned and
white-naped crane
The white-naped crane (''Antigone vipio'') is a bird of the crane family. It is a large bird, long, about tall, and weighing about , with pinkish legs, a grey-and-white-striped neck, and a red face patch.
Distribution
The white-naped crane br ...
s,
black griffon
The cinereous vulture (''Aegypius monachus'') is a large raptor in the family Accipitridae and distributed through much of temperate Eurasia. It is also known as the black vulture, monk vulture and Eurasian black vulture. With a body length of , ...
,
white-tailed eagle
The white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla'') is a very large species of sea eagle widely distributed across temperate Eurasia. Like all eagles, it is a member of the family Accipitridae (or accipitrids) which includes other diurnal raptors ...
,
golden eagle
The golden eagle (''Aquila chrysaetos'') is a bird of prey living in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the most widely distributed species of eagle. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. They are one of the best-known birds of ...
, and
peregrine falcon. The largest currently extant colony of Japanese
cormorant and black-tailed gull colonies in the world are located on this island. In all, seabird colonies in May and June consist of up to 100,000 birds.
Among mammals on the island are the
field mouse and
reed vole
The reed vole (''Alexandromys fortis'') is a species of vole. It is found in northern and central Eurasia, including northern China and the Korean Peninsula. This species is somewhat larger and longer-tailed than most other voles.
Description ...
.
From the land, reptiles are found a small quantity of Japanese
natrix
''Natrix'' is a genus of Old World snakes found across Eurasia (although the range of ''Natrix tessellata'' extends into Egypt and those of '' N. astreptophora'' and '' N. maura'' into north-west Africa) in the subfamily Natricinae of the famil ...
and steppes
ratsnake.
On the Mikhelson Rocks, not far from the island, live
seal
Seal may refer to any of the following:
Common uses
* Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly:
** Earless seal, or "true seal"
** Fur seal
* Seal (emblem), a device to imp ...
s. Not knowing what a hunter is, they are completely unafraid of humans and allow themselves to be photographed.
On the sandy bottom of the island's bays, there are colonies of
scallops, the largest in the Maritime Province.
Epidemiological circumstances
On the island, there have been noted cases of people contracting
Japanese encephalitis
Japanese encephalitis (JE) is an infection of the brain caused by the Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV). While most infections result in little or no symptoms, occasional inflammation of the brain occurs. In these cases, symptoms may include he ...
.
Climate
The coldest month is January when the average air temperature is . The warmest month is August when the average air temperature is .
The water in August can warm, up to {{convert, 23-25, C, F.
External links
Furugelm Island on the site shamora.infowith photographs (Russian)
Furugelm Island on the site leto.primpogoda.com(archived link, 29 September 2007) (Russian)
Islands of the Russian Far East
Islands of Primorsky Krai
Islands of the Sea of Japan
Uninhabited islands of Russia