Kunashir Island
American whaleships caught right whales off the islands between 1847 and 1892. Three of the ships were wrecked on the islands: two on Urup in 1855 and one on Makanrushi in 1856. In September 1892, north of Kunashir Island, a Russian schooner seized the bark "Cape Horn Pigeon", of New Bedford and escorted it to Vladivostok, where it was detained for nearly two weeks.