Right whale
Right whales may have wintered in the Bonin Islands, but few sightings in recent decades support this idea. The Ogasawara Whale-watching Association reported seeing 3 groups of 4 different right whales in the Bonin Islands in the 1990s (two animals from different groups were photographed and recorded on underwater video); A pair of possible right whales were seen migrating south outside the port of Aogashima in December 2007. Another group of 2 or 3 animals appeared just off Mikura island in March 2008. One animal was sighted very close to shore in Niijima, 2011 (later described). A small right whale was seen nearby Manazuru Peninsula on April 3, and one or two right whales were sighted off Miyake Island on April 21, 2016.