Malören
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Malören (, locally ; fi, Maluri) is an island in the
Kalix archipelago The Kalix archipelago ( sv, Kalix skärgård) is a group of 792 Swedish islands in the north part of the Bay of Bothnia. The largest island in the Kalix archipelago is Rånön. A few of the islands have small permanent populations, but most are use ...
of northern Sweden. It lies to the southwest of Sandskär, but is not part of the Haparanda Archipelago National Park. Malören has the shape of an
atoll An atoll () is a ring-shaped island, including a coral rim that encircles a lagoon partially or completely. There may be coral islands or cays on the rim. Atolls are located in warm tropical or subtropical oceans and seas where corals can gr ...
, with sandbanks around an inland sea. It came into existence about 1,500 years ago when the area began to rise by per century. Since 1997, the island has been 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 ...
, encompassing . On the island is a chapel, built in 1769, and a lighthouse, built in 1851.


History

The island attracted fishermen in the 1600s and 1700s, especially from the Finnish side of the nearby border. Attracted by the herring, a fisherman came from Torneå and from Karlö in Ostrobothnia setting up two separate communities on the island with up to 200 people living there during the summer. A pole marker was set up in 1725, and ten years later made into a
beacon A beacon is an intentionally conspicuous device designed to attract attention to a specific location. A common example is the lighthouse, which draws attention to a fixed point that can be used to navigate around obstacles or into port. More mode ...
(a painted marker that functions as a lighthouse but has no light). Fishing became very productive during the second half of the 18th century when ten percent of the catch used to be donated to the priest in Torneå. As a result of the island's prosperity, in 1768, a chapel was established there on the orders of the magistrate of Torneå. With its tall spire, it became known as "Skärgårdens domkyrka" ("cathedral of the islands"). Malören became 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 ...
in 1827. In 1851, a tall lighthouse was built, the first to be designed by Gustaf von Heidenstam. A somewhat smaller lighthouse was built in 1891 to save manpower; however, this newer tower was closed down in about 1910, and the older one was again placed in service, now with a gas-powered light; the keepers were withdrawn at the same time and pilots took over their maintenance. When telephone service arrived in 1932, the pilot station was combined with that on another island, Erikören, and Malören no longer had a pilot living there year-round. In 1958, the lighthouse was replaced with a
Dalén light A Dalén light is a light produced from burning of carbide gas (acetylene), combined with a solar sensor which automatically operates the light only during darkness. Overview The technology was the predominant form of light source in lighthouse ...
. The first dock was not constructed on the island until 1929. To assist with launching the pilot boat when the wind was in a difficult direction, there used to be railed from the north to the south side of the island; the boat was pulled on a trolley to where it could more conveniently be launched. A concrete harbor was built over four years in the 1950s but had to be abandoned in 1967 because of erosion. The harbor can be accessed at its easterly breakwater in a calm sea by boats with a draft up to , although this can change due to the ongoing deposition of sediment on the seafloor. Other parts of the harbor are filled with rocks and sand that have been brought in with the tide. Line markers fixed with lights on the outer leading line fitted with white light provide the navigation guide to boats. The inner line is fitted with red lights and the harbor is sheltered from southerly gales. When very strong southerly/south-westerly winds are blowing, the harbor approach is difficult. The old Swedish “Domänverket” wooden
jetty A jetty is a structure that projects from land out into water. A jetty may serve as a breakwater, as a walkway, or both; or, in pairs, as a means of constricting a channel. The term derives from the French word ', "thrown", signifying some ...
, now known as “Sveaskog”, was rebuilt in the middle of the 1970s.


Geography

Malören Island is situated in the Gulf of Bothnia, situated approximately from the coast of Sweden. Kalix is away towards the coast. The horseshoe-shaped island is about in length. The lie of the land is flat with a submarine gully recorded, extending approximately in a northwesterly direction. The island was declared a nature reserve in 1997 and titled “Nature 2000” covering an area of . Seismic profiling has confirmed that the Muhos formation encompasses Bothnian Bay.


Landmarks

Two important landmarks on the island are the Malören Lighthouse and the chapel. The island also has a labyrinth, a wreck and debris of a navigation marker dated to 1725. The existing Malören Lighthouse was established in 1851 and re-activated between 1891 and 1910. Its octagonal-shaped, wood-shingled tower is tapered and measures in height. It is fitted with a lantern and gallery with a focal plane height of . The light flashes twice every 12 seconds in white-red-green. While the tower is painted red, the lantern dome is white. The lighthouse is under the jurisdiction of the Swedish National Property Board. As a result of the economic progress of the island due to fishing operations, a church was established here at the orders of the magistrate of Torneå town. The octagonal wooden chapel was initially known as Prince Karl's fishing church. It was erected in 1768 and was later given a shingled roof; this was a popular church style around
Bothnian Bay The Bothnian Bay or Bay of Bothnia (; ) is the northernmost part of the Gulf of Bothnia, which is in turn the northern part of the Baltic Sea. The land holding the bay is still rising after the weight of ice-age glaciers has been removed, and wit ...
at the time. Because of its tall spire, the church also functioned as a navigational marker for seafaring vessels. Still functional, Sunday services are held there during the summer.


Wildlife

Since 1997, Malören has been a nature reserve covering 182 hectares (450 acres). Vegetation on the rock-strewn island is reported to be gradually increasing.
Mountain ash Mountain ash may refer to: * ''Eucalyptus regnans'', the tallest of all flowering plants, native to Australia * Mountain-ashes or rowans, varieties of trees and shrubs in the genus ''Sorbus'' See also * Mountain Ash, Rhondda Cynon Taf Mounta ...
are taking root and there are plenty of sea peas,
tufted vetch ''Vicia cracca'' (tufted vetch, cow vetch, bird vetch, blue vetch, boreal vetch), is a species of flowering plant in the pea and bean family Fabaceae. It is native to Europe and Asia. It occurs on other continents as an introduced species, includ ...
and
fireweed ''Chamaenerion angustifolium'' is a perennial herbaceous flowering plant in the willowherb family Onagraceae. It is known in North America as fireweed, in some parts of Canada as great willowherb, in Britain and Ireland as rosebay willowherb. ...
. Rarer species include sleepy primrose and southern adderstongue. The island is even more interesting for birdlife, located as it is at the south end of the archipelago. It is used both as a resting place and for nesting. Arctic terns abound but there are also black-legged kittiwakes, Arctic skuas, large and small
plover Plovers ( , ) are a widely distributed group of wading birds belonging to the subfamily Charadriinae. Description There are about 66 species in the subfamily, most of them called "plover" or "dotterel". The closely related lapwing subf ...
s,
ruddy turnstone The ruddy turnstone (''Arenaria interpres'') is a small cosmopolitan wading bird, one of two species of turnstone in the genus ''Arenaria''. It is now classified in the sandpiper family Scolopacidae but was formerly sometimes placed in the plov ...
s and redshanks as well as many of species of
gull Gulls, or colloquially seagulls, are seabirds of the family Laridae in the suborder Lari. They are most closely related to the terns and skimmers and only distantly related to auks, and even more distantly to waders. Until the 21st century ...
."Malören"
Länsstyrelsen Norrbotten. Retrieved 4 October 2013.


References

;Bibliography *


External links


Google images of Malören
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maloren Geography of Norrbotten County Nature reserves in Sweden Islands of Norrbotten County Swedish islands in the Baltic Kalix