Furö is an

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

located in the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...

five nautical miles (about 6 miles) off the east coast of Oskarshamn in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

History

Historically the island has been used as base for fishing (mainly

cod Cod is the common name for the demersal fish genus '' Gadus'', belonging to the family Gadidae. Cod is also used as part of the common name for a number of other fish species, and one species that belongs to genus ''Gadus'' is commonly not call ...

herring Herring are forage fish, mostly belonging to the family of Clupeidae. Herring often move in large schools around fishing banks and near the coast, found particularly in shallow, temperate waters of the North Pacific and North Atlantic Oceans, i ...

and

flounder Flounders are a group of flatfish species. They are demersal fish, found at the bottom of oceans around the world; some species will also enter estuaries. Taxonomy The name "flounder" is used for several only distantly related species, thou ...

). Today there are no permanent fishermen on the island. The whole island is a

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

and forms part of the EU-wide

Natura 2000 Natura 2000 is a network of nature protection areas in the territory of the European Union. It is made up of Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas designated under the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive, respectively ...

-network.

Pilot and lighthouse

In 1874, the Swedish authorities located a

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mar ...

and a

pilot station Pilot Station ( esu, Tuutalgaq) is a city in Kusilvak Census Area, Alaska, United States. The population was 568 at the 2010 census, up from 550 in 2000. Geography Pilot Station is located at (61.936050, -162.883403), on the northern bank of t ...

to Furö. The lighthouse was built at the north-western end of the island. The building was also used as accommodation for the pilots. In 1921 a new, more modern, lighthouse was raised at the reef Finnrevet just south-east off Furö. Today there are no pilots left on Furö, but their latest red wooden building from 1933 still exists, and is now used as a summer cottage. The island is today mainly used for recreation.

Shipwrecks

The waters around Furö are quite shallow. Many ships have run aground near the island. On the night of November 28, 1949 the British steamer ''Britkon'' ran aground at Furö during a heavy gale. The fully loaded ship was stranded on the reef Finnrevet just off the island. Eleven men and women reached the shore by lifeboat. The remaining 27 of the crew was rescued by the pilots on Furö. The Britkon was hard stranded and broke in half two days later. Today nothing is visible above the surface since the wreck has been partly broken up and salvaged.Information and newspaper articles from the accident.
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Furo Islands of Kalmar County Småland Oskarshamn Tourist attractions in Kalmar County Nature reserves in Sweden