Common Minke Whale
Encyclopedia
The common minke whale or northern minke whale, (Balaenoptera acutorostrata), is a species of minke whale
within the suborder of baleen whale
s.
Until recently, all minke whales were considered a single species. However, the common minke whale was recognized as a separate species from the Antarctic minke whale
based on mitochondrial DNA
testing. This testing also confirmed that the Antarctic minke whale is the closest relative of the common minke whale, thus confirming the validity of the minke whale clade
The common minke whale is the smallest of the rorqual
s, and one of the smallest baleen whales (second smallest only to the Pygmy Right Whale
). Except for the dwarf form, length ranges from 7 to 9.8 meters and weight ranges from 5 to 10 ton
s. On average, females are about 0.5 meters longer than males. Newborns range from 2.4 to 3.5 meters. The dwarf form has a smaller adult length of up to 7.8 meters.
The back is dark grey and the belly white. All forms have a pale chevron above the flippers or behind the head. All forms also have a white or light marking on each flipper. On the dwarf form the white marking covers most of the flipper. On the northern forms, there is a distinct white band running horizontally through the middle of each flipper. This band is more grey in the Scammon's minke whales.
The common minke whale differs from the Antarctic variety in several aspects. The common species is slightly smaller than the Antarctic, which has much less white marking on the flippers. There are also less distinctive differences in body coloration and shape.
and north Pacific Ocean
s. The Scammon form is also from the north Pacific. The dwarf form has a distribution completely separate from the other forms, living in southern oceans, and has a distribution generally north of the Antarctic species, although there is some overlap.
, sand eel
, salmon
, capelin
, mackerel
, cod
, whiting, sprat
, wolffish
, dogfish
, pollack
, haddock
, herring
, euphausiids
, and copepod
s. In the North Pacific, they mainly eat euphausiids, Japanese anchovy
, Pacific saury
, and walleye pollack
. In the Southern Ocean, dwarf minkes feed mainly on myctophid fishes
.
Whaling was mentioned in Norwegian written sources as early as the year 800 and hunting common minke whales with harpoons was common in the 11th century.
By the end of the 1930s they were the target of coastal whaling from countries including Brazil
, Canada
, China
, Greenland
, Japan
, Korea
and Norway
. Hunting continued apace until the general moratorium on whaling was introduced in 1986.
Following the moratorium, most hunting of common minke whales ceased. Japan and more recently Iceland (in August 2003) have continued hunting for minkes on scientific grounds, which have been criticised by many environmental organisations as being a cover for commercial whaling. Both countries have the long-term goal of resuming open commercial whaling. Although Norway initially followed the moratorium, they placed an objection to it with the IWC and resumed commercial hunting in 1993. Norwegian whalers caught 639 in 2005. The quota for 2006 was set at 1052 animals, from which a catch of 546 was taken.
in Scotland
, County Cork
in Ireland
and Húsavík
in Iceland. Common minke whales are frequently inquisitive and will indulge in "human-watching". In contrast to the spectacularly acrobatic humpback whale
, minkes do not raise their fluke out of the water when diving and are less likely to breach. Minkes can stay submerged for as long as twenty minutes.
.
Minke Whale
Minke whale , or lesser rorqual, is a name given to two species of marine mammal belonging to a clade within the suborder of baleen whales. The minke whale was given its official designation by Lacepède in 1804, who described a dwarf form of Balænoptera acuto-rostrata...
within the suborder of baleen whale
Baleen whale
The Baleen whales, also called whalebone whales or great whales, form the Mysticeti, one of two suborders of the Cetacea . Baleen whales are characterized by having baleen plates for filtering food from water, rather than having teeth. This distinguishes them from the other suborder of cetaceans,...
s.
Taxonomy
The common minke whale was first identified by Lacepede in 1804. There are several forms of common minke whale, including Scammon's minke whale (B. a. scammoni) from the North Pacific and the dwarf minke whale, from the Southern Hemisphere.Until recently, all minke whales were considered a single species. However, the common minke whale was recognized as a separate species from the Antarctic minke whale
Antarctic Minke Whale
The Antarctic minke whale or southern minke whale , is a species of minke whale within the suborder of baleen whales.-Taxonomy:...
based on mitochondrial DNA
Mitochondrial DNA
Mitochondrial DNA is the DNA located in organelles called mitochondria, structures within eukaryotic cells that convert the chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use, adenosine triphosphate...
testing. This testing also confirmed that the Antarctic minke whale is the closest relative of the common minke whale, thus confirming the validity of the minke whale clade
Clade
A clade is a group consisting of a species and all its descendants. In the terms of biological systematics, a clade is a single "branch" on the "tree of life". The idea that such a "natural group" of organisms should be grouped together and given a taxonomic name is central to biological...
Description
Rorqual
Rorquals are the largest group of baleen whales, with nine species in two genera. They include the largest animal that has ever lived, the Blue Whale, which can reach , and another that easily reaches ; even the smallest of the group, the Northern Minke Whale, reaches .-Characteristics:Rorquals...
s, and one of the smallest baleen whales (second smallest only to the Pygmy Right Whale
Pygmy Right Whale
The pygmy right whale is a baleen whale, the sole member of the family Neobalaenidae. First described by John Edward Gray in 1846, it is the smallest of the baleen whales, ranging between and in length and 3,000 and 3,500 kg in mass...
). Except for the dwarf form, length ranges from 7 to 9.8 meters and weight ranges from 5 to 10 ton
Ton
The ton is a unit of measure. It has a long history and has acquired a number of meanings and uses over the years. It is used principally as a unit of weight, and as a unit of volume. It can also be used as a measure of energy, for truck classification, or as a colloquial term.It is derived from...
s. On average, females are about 0.5 meters longer than males. Newborns range from 2.4 to 3.5 meters. The dwarf form has a smaller adult length of up to 7.8 meters.
The back is dark grey and the belly white. All forms have a pale chevron above the flippers or behind the head. All forms also have a white or light marking on each flipper. On the dwarf form the white marking covers most of the flipper. On the northern forms, there is a distinct white band running horizontally through the middle of each flipper. This band is more grey in the Scammon's minke whales.
The common minke whale differs from the Antarctic variety in several aspects. The common species is slightly smaller than the Antarctic, which has much less white marking on the flippers. There are also less distinctive differences in body coloration and shape.
Distribution
Common minke whales have a disjointed distribution. The non-dwarf forms live in the north AtlanticAtlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
and north Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
s. The Scammon form is also from the north Pacific. The dwarf form has a distribution completely separate from the other forms, living in southern oceans, and has a distribution generally north of the Antarctic species, although there is some overlap.
Feeding
Common minke whales have a catholic diet, feeding on various species of fish and crustaceans. In the North Atlantic, they prey on sand lanceSand lance
A sand lance or sandlance is a fish belonging to the family Ammodytidae. Several species of sand lance are commonly known as "sand eels" or "sandeels", though they are not related to true eels. Another variant name is launce, and all names of the fish are references to its slender body and...
, sand eel
Sand Eel
Sand eel or sandeel is the common name used for a considerable number of species of fish. Most of them are sea fish of the genera Hyperoplus , Gymnammodytes or Ammodytes...
, salmon
Salmon
Salmon is the common name for several species of fish in the family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the same family are called trout; the difference is often said to be that salmon migrate and trout are resident, but this distinction does not strictly hold true...
, capelin
Capelin
The capelin or caplin, Mallotus villosus, is a small forage fish of the smelt family found in the Atlantic and Arctic oceans. In summer, it grazes on dense swarms of plankton at the edge of the ice shelf. Larger capelin also eat a great deal of krill and other crustaceans...
, mackerel
Mackerel
Mackerel is a common name applied to a number of different species of fish, mostly, but not exclusively, from the family Scombridae. They may be found in all tropical and temperate seas. Most live offshore in the oceanic environment but a few, like the Spanish mackerel , enter bays and can be...
, cod
Cod
Cod is the common name for genus Gadus, belonging to the family Gadidae, and is also used in the common name for various other fishes. Cod is a popular food with a mild flavor, low fat content and a dense, flaky white flesh. Cod livers are processed to make cod liver oil, an important source of...
, whiting, sprat
Sprattus
Sprattus is a genus of small oily fish of the family Clupeidae. One can find many varieties served from the Iberian peninsula to the Caucasus. They are commonly fried and eaten in British and Bulgarian cuisine. In northern and north-eastern Europe, European sprats are commonly smoked and preserved...
, wolffish
Anarhichadidae
The wolffish are a family, Anarhichadidae, of perciform fish. They are native to cold waters of the northern Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, where they live on the continental shelf and slope, to depths of about . They are bottom-feeders, eating hard-shelled invertebrates such as clams, echinoderms...
, dogfish
Squalidae
Squalidae is the family of dogfish sharks. They are found in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans, from tropical equatorial climates to the Arctic and Antarctic....
, pollack
Pollock
Pollock is the common name used for either of the two species of marine fish in the Pollachius genus. Both P. pollachius and P. virens are commonly referred to as pollock. Other names for P...
, haddock
Haddock
The haddock , also known as the offshore hake, is a marine fish distributed on both sides of the North Atlantic. Haddock is a popular food fish and is widely fished commercially....
, herring
Herring
Herring is an oily fish of the genus Clupea, found in the shallow, temperate waters of the North Pacific and the North Atlantic oceans, including the Baltic Sea. Three species of Clupea are recognized. The main taxa, the Atlantic herring and the Pacific herring may each be divided into subspecies...
, euphausiids
Krill
Krill is the common name given to the order Euphausiacea of shrimp-like marine crustaceans. Also known as euphausiids, these small invertebrates are found in all oceans of the world...
, and copepod
Copepod
Copepods are a group of small crustaceans found in the sea and nearly every freshwater habitat. Some species are planktonic , some are benthic , and some continental species may live in limno-terrestrial habitats and other wet terrestrial places, such as swamps, under leaf fall in wet forests,...
s. In the North Pacific, they mainly eat euphausiids, Japanese anchovy
Engraulis
Engraulis is a genus of anchovies. It currently contains nine species.-Species:* Engraulis albidus Borsa, Collet & J. D. Durand, 2004* Engraulis anchoita Carl Hubbs & Marini, 1935 * Engraulis australis Engraulis is a genus of anchovies. It currently contains nine species.-Species:* Engraulis...
, Pacific saury
Pacific saury
The Pacific saury, Cololabis saira, is a member of the family Scomberesocidae. This saury, which is a food source in some East Asian cuisines, is also known by the name mackerel pike.- Name :...
, and walleye pollack
Alaska pollock
Alaska pollock or walleye pollock is a North Pacific species of the cod family Gadidae. While related to the common Atlantic pollock species of the same family, the Alaska pollock is not a member of the same Pollachius genus.The Norwegian pollock , a rare fish of Norwegian waters, may actually be...
. In the Southern Ocean, dwarf minkes feed mainly on myctophid fishes
Lanternfish
Cooper Lanternfishes are small mesopelagic fish of the large family Myctophidae. One of two families in the order Myctophiformes, the Myctophidae are represented by 246 species in 33 genera, and are found in oceans worldwide. They are aptly named after their conspicuous use of bioluminescence...
.
Whaling
By the end of the 1930s they were the target of coastal whaling from countries including Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, Greenland
Greenland
Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
and Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. Hunting continued apace until the general moratorium on whaling was introduced in 1986.
Following the moratorium, most hunting of common minke whales ceased. Japan and more recently Iceland (in August 2003) have continued hunting for minkes on scientific grounds, which have been criticised by many environmental organisations as being a cover for commercial whaling. Both countries have the long-term goal of resuming open commercial whaling. Although Norway initially followed the moratorium, they placed an objection to it with the IWC and resumed commercial hunting in 1993. Norwegian whalers caught 639 in 2005. The quota for 2006 was set at 1052 animals, from which a catch of 546 was taken.
Common minke whale-watching
Due to their relative abundance common minke whales are often the focus of whale-watching cruises setting sail from, for instance, the Isle of MullIsle of Mull
The Isle of Mull or simply Mull is the second largest island of the Inner Hebrides, off the west coast of Scotland in the council area of Argyll and Bute....
in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, County Cork
County Cork
County Cork is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and is also part of the province of Munster. It is named after the city of Cork . Cork County Council is the local authority for the county...
in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
and Húsavík
Húsavík
Húsavík is a town in Norðurþing municipality on the north coast of Iceland on the shores of Skjálfandi bay with 2,237 inhabitants.-Overview:The income of the inhabitants is derived from tourism and fishing, as well as retail and small industry...
in Iceland. Common minke whales are frequently inquisitive and will indulge in "human-watching". In contrast to the spectacularly acrobatic humpback whale
Humpback Whale
The humpback whale is a species of baleen whale. One of the larger rorqual species, adults range in length from and weigh approximately . The humpback has a distinctive body shape, with unusually long pectoral fins and a knobbly head. It is an acrobatic animal, often breaching and slapping the...
, minkes do not raise their fluke out of the water when diving and are less likely to breach. Minkes can stay submerged for as long as twenty minutes.
Conservation status
The common minke whale is considered "Least Concern" on the IUCN red listIUCN Red List
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , founded in 1963, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biological species. The International Union for Conservation of Nature is the world's main authority on the conservation status of species...
.