Jærens rev
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| Jærens rev | |
|---|---|
| Revet[1] | |
| Location | Rogaland county, Norway |
| Coordinates | 58°45′09″N 5°28′58″E / 58.75259°N 5.48266°E |
| Type | Reef |
| Basin countries | Norway |
| Location | |
 Interactive map of the fjord | |
Jærens rev[1] (lit. 'Jæren's reef') is the westernmost sandbank off the coast of Jæren. It is located approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) off Reve in Klepp Municipality, between Orrestranda and Borestranda.[2][3] Its location has been used to define the limits of the Norwegian fishery zone.[4]
Credit: Roar Johansen
The shoal is a partly stony sandbar and extends almost 2 nautical miles (3.7 km) to the west in front of the Revtangen headland, the westernmost point of Jæren. It is very shallow: at Klausgrunnen, about 1.5 nautical miles (2.8 km) off the coast, the water depth is still only 3.5 metres (11 ft).[5]
A light buoy is located about 1.8 nautical miles (3.3 km) off the coast at the western end of the shoal,[6] approximately at 58°45′N 5°26′E / 58.750°N 5.433°E, for safe passage making. A 16.5 metres (54 ft) high steel mark on Revtangen built in 2004 also serves as a navigational beacon; its top mark has a side length of 4 metres (13 ft). A first wooden navigation mark was set up here as early as 1854; it was replaced by a steel construction in 1911, which was dismantled in 1994 and only replaced by the current beacon ten years later.[7]
About 6 nautical miles (11 km) further north-northeast is the Feistein Lighthouse on the small Feistein archipelago at 58°49′35″N 05°30′19″E / 58.82639°N 5.50528°E.
Wildlife
Jæren's rev is a very well known locality for waders. Since 1937, the Stavanger Museum has had an ornithological station (Revtangen Ornithological Station) on the mainland nearby.[8] The Norwegian Air Force took possession of parts of the site in the 1950s as a target area for bombs and gunfire, and the ornithological station was therefore relocated in the autumn of 1954 about 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) further northeast, to a point near the Reve farms, where it is still located today. Every year between 6,000 and 12,000 waders and passerines are caught there, ringed and then released again.[8] Almost 300 different bird species have been observed there since its opening.[9]
Credit: Egil