The Antarctic minke whale or southern minke whale (''Balaenoptera bonaerensis'') is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriat ...

of minke whale within the suborder of

baleen whale Baleen whales ( systematic name Mysticeti), also known as whalebone whales, are a parvorder of carnivorous marine mammals of the infraorder Cetacea ( whales, dolphins and porpoises) which use keratinaceous baleen plates (or "whalebone") in t ...

s. It is the second smallest

rorqual Rorquals () are the largest group of baleen whales, which comprise the family Balaenopteridae, containing ten extant species in three genera. They include the largest animal that has ever lived, the blue whale, which can reach , and the fin wha ...

after the

common minke whale The common minke whale or northern minke whale (''Balaenoptera acutorostrata'') is a species of minke whale within the suborder of baleen whales. It is the smallest species of the rorquals and the second smallest species of baleen whale. Althoug ...

and the third smallest baleen whale. Although first

scientifically described A species description is a formal description of a newly discovered species, usually in the form of a scientific paper. Its purpose is to give a clear description of a new species of organism and explain how it differs from species that have be ...

in the mid-19th century, it was not recognized as a distinct species until the 1990s. Once ignored by the

whaling Whaling is the process of hunting of whales for their usable products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that became increasingly important in the Industrial Revolution. It was practiced as an organized industr ...

industry due to its small size and low oil yield, the

Antarctic The Antarctic ( or , American English also or ; commonly ) is a polar region around Earth's South Pole, opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of Antarctica, the Kerguelen Plateau and othe ...

minke was able to avoid the fate of other baleen whales and maintained a large population into the 21st century, numbering in the hundreds of thousands.Branch, T. A. (2006). "Abundance estimates for Antarctic minke whales from three completed circumpolar sets of surveys, 1978/79 to 2003/04". ''Paper'' SC/58/IA18 ''submitted to the International Whaling Commission Scientific Committee'', pp. 1–28. Surviving to become the most abundant baleen whale in the world, it is now one of the mainstays of the industry alongside its cosmopolitan counterpart the common minke. It is primarily restricted to the Southern Hemisphere (although vagrants have been reported in the North Atlantic) and feeds mainly on

euphausiid Krill are small crustaceans of the order Euphausiacea, and are found in all the world's oceans. The name "krill" comes from the Norwegian word ', meaning "small fry of fish", which is also often attributed to species of fish. Krill are consi ...

Taxonomy

History

In February 1867, a fisherman found an estimated male rorqual floating in the

Río de la Plata The Río de la Plata (, "river of silver"), also called the River Plate or La Plata River in English, is the estuary formed by the confluence of the Uruguay River and the Paraná River at Punta Gorda. It empties into the Atlantic Ocean and fo ...

near Belgrano, about ten miles from

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

, Argentina. After bringing it ashore he brought it to the attention of the

German Argentine German Argentines (german: Deutschargentinier, es, germano-argentinos) are Argentines of German ancestry as well as German citizens living in Argentina. They are descendants of Germans who immigrated to Argentina from Germany and elsewhere in E ...

zoologist

Hermann Burmeister Karl Hermann Konrad Burmeister (also known as Carlos Germán Conrado Burmeister) (15 January 1807 – 2 May 1892) was a German Argentine zoologist, entomologist, herpetologist, botanist, and coleopterologist. He served as a professor at the Uni ...

, who described it as a new species, ''Balaenoptera bonaerensis'', the same year.Burmeister, H. (1867). "Preliminary description of a new species of finner whale (''Balaenoptera bonaerensis'')". ''Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London'': 707–713. The skeleton of another specimen, a individual taken off Otago Head,

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

, New Zealand, in October 1873, was sent by Professor Frederick Hutton, keeper of the

Otago Museum Tūhura Otago Museum is located in the city centre of Dunedin, New Zealand. It is adjacent to the University of Otago campus in Dunedin North, 1,500 metres northeast of the city centre. It is one of the city's leading attractions and has one of ...

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

, to the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

in London, where it was examined by the British zoologist

John Edward Gray John Edward Gray, FRS (12 February 1800 – 7 March 1875) was a British zoologist. He was the elder brother of zoologist George Robert Gray and son of the pharmacologist and botanist Samuel Frederick Gray (1766–1828). The same is used f ...

, who described it as a new species of "pike whale" (minke whale, ''B. acutorostrata'') and named it ''B. huttoni''. Both descriptions were largely ignored for a century. Gordon R. Williamson was the first to describe a dark-flippered form in the Southern Hemisphere, based on three specimens, a pregnant female taken in 1955 and two males taken in 1957, all brought aboard the British factory ship ''Balaena''. All three had uniformly pale gray flippers and bicolored baleen, with white plates in the front and gray plates in the back. Further studies in the 1960s supported his description.Kasuya, T. and T. Ichihara. (1965). "Some informations on minke whales from the Antarctic". ''Sci. Rep. Whales Res. Inst.'', 19: 37–43. In the 1970s osteological and morphological studies suggested it was at least a subspecies of the common minke whale, which was designated ''B. a. bonaerensis'', after Burmeister's specimen. In the 1980s further studies based on external appearance and

osteology Osteology () is the scientific study of bones, practised by osteologists. A subdiscipline of anatomy, anthropology, and paleontology, osteology is the detailed study of the structure of bones, skeletal elements, teeth, microbone morphology, func ...

suggested there were in fact two forms in the Southern Hemisphere, a larger form with dark flippers and a "diminutive" or "dwarf form" with white flippers, the latter of which appeared to be more closely related to the common form of the

Northern Hemisphere The Northern Hemisphere is the half of Earth that is north of the Equator. For other planets in the Solar System, north is defined as being in the same celestial hemisphere relative to the invariable plane of the solar system as Earth's Nort ...

. This was strengthened by genetic studies using

allozyme Alloenzymes (or also called allozymes) are variant forms of an enzyme which differ structurally but not functionally from other allozymes coded for by different alleles at the same locus. These are opposed to isozymes, which are enzymes that pe ...

and

mitochondrial DNA Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA or mDNA) is the DNA located in mitochondria, cellular organelles within eukaryotic cells that convert chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use, such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial D ...

analyses, which proposed there were at least two species of minke whale, ''B. acutorostrata'' and ''B. bonaerensis'', with the dwarf form being more closely related to the former species.Wada, S., and Numachi, K. I. (1991). "Allozyme analyses of genetic differentiation among the populations and species of the Balaenoptera". ''Genetic ecology of whales and dolphins''. ''Reports of the International Whaling Commission'' (Special Issue 13): 125–154.Wada, S., Kobayashi, T., and Numachi, K. I. (1991). "Genetic variability and differentiation of mitochondrial DNA in minke whales". ''Genetic ecology of whales and dolphins''. ''Reports of the International Whaling Commission'' (Special Issue 13): 203–215. One study, in fact, suggested that

sei whale The sei whale ( , ; ''Balaenoptera borealis'') is a baleen whale, the third-largest rorqual after the blue whale and the fin whale. It inhabits most oceans and adjoining seas, and prefers deep offshore waters. It avoids polar and tropical w ...

s and the offshore form of

Bryde's whale Bryde's whale ( Brooder's), or the Bryde's whale complex, putatively comprises three species of rorqual and maybe four. The "complex" means the number and classification remains unclear because of a lack of definitive information and research. ...

were more closely related to one another than either species of minke whale were to each other. The American scientist Dale W. Rice supported these conclusions in his seminal work on marine mammal taxonomy, giving what he called the "Antarctic minke whale" (''B. bonaerensis'', Burmeister, 1867), full specific status – this was followed by the

International Whaling Commission The International Whaling Commission (IWC) is a specialised regional fishery management organisation, established under the terms of the 1946 International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (ICRW) to "provide for the proper conservation ...

a few years later. Other organizations followed suit.

Divergence

Antarctic and common minke whales diverged from each other in the Southern Hemisphere 4.7 million years ago, during a prolonged period of

global warming In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

in the early

Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.333 million to 2.58Antarctic Circumpolar Current The Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) is an ocean current that flows clockwise (as seen from the South Pole) from west to east around Antarctica. An alternative name for the ACC is the West Wind Drift. The ACC is the dominant circulation feat ...

and created local pockets of upwelling, facilitating speciation by fragmenting populations.

Hybrids

There have been two confirmed hybrids between Antarctic and common minke whales. Both were caught in the northeastern North Atlantic by Norwegian whaling vessels. The first, an female taken off western

Spitsbergen Spitsbergen (; formerly known as West Spitsbergen; Norwegian: ''Vest Spitsbergen'' or ''Vestspitsbergen'' , also sometimes spelled Spitzbergen) is the largest and the only permanently populated island of the Svalbard archipelago in northern Nor ...

() on 20 June 2007, was the result of a pairing between a female Antarctic minke and a male common minke. The second, a pregnant female taken off northwestern Spitsbergen () on 1 July 2010, on the other hand, had a common minke mother and an Antarctic minke father. Her female fetus, in turn, was fathered by a North Atlantic common minke, demonstrating that back-crossing is possible between hybrids of the two species.

Description

Size

The Antarctic minke is among the smallest of the baleen whales, with only the common minke and the

pygmy right whale The pygmy right whale (''Caperea marginata'') is a species of baleen whale. It may be a member of the cetotheres, a family of baleen whales which until 2012 were thought to be extinct; ''C. marginata'' has otherwise been considered the monotyp ...

being smaller. The longest caught off Brazil were an female taken in 1969 and an male taken in 1975, the former four feet longer than the second longest females and the latter five feet longer than the second longest males. Off South Africa, the longest measured were a female and a male. The heaviest caught in the Antarctic were a female that weighed 10.4 metric tons (11.5 short tons) and an male that weighed 8.8 metric tons (9.7 short tons). At physical maturity, females average and males . At sexual maturity, females average and males . Calves are estimated to be at birth.

External appearance

AustralianCustoms-WhalingInTheSouthernOcean 3

Like their close relative the common minke, the Antarctic minke whale is robust for its genus. They have a narrow, pointed, triangular rostrum with a low splashguard. Their prominent, upright, falcate dorsal fin – often more curved and pointed than in common minkes –is set about two-thirds the way along the back. About half of individuals have a light gray flare or patch on the posterior half of the dorsal fin, similar to that seen in species of dolphins in the genus ''

Lagenorhynchus ''Lagenorhynchus'' is a genus of oceanic dolphins in the infraorder Cetacea, presently containing six extant species. However, there is consistent molecular evidence that the genus is polyphyletic and several of the species are likely to be move ...

''. They are dark gray dorsally and clean white ventrally. The lower jaw projects beyond the upper jaw and is dark gray on both sides. Antarctic minkes lack the light gray ''rostral saddle'' present in the common and dwarf forms. All individuals possess pale, thin ''blowhole streaks'' trailing from the blowhole slits, which first veer left and then right – particularly the right streak. These streaks appear to be more prominent and consistent on this species than on either the common or dwarf minke. Most also have a variably colored – light gray, light gray with dark edges, or simply dark – ''ear streak'' trailing behind the opening for the auditory meatus, which widens and becomes more diffuse posteriorly. A light gray variably shaped ''double chevron'' or W-shaped pattern (analogous to a similar pattern seen on their larger cousin the

fin whale The fin whale (''Balaenoptera physalus''), also known as finback whale or common rorqual and formerly known as herring whale or razorback whale, is a cetacean belonging to the parvorder of baleen whales. It is the second-longest species of ceta ...

) lies between the flippers. This broadens to form a light gray ''shoulder patch'' above the flippers. Like common and dwarf minkes, they have two light gray to whitish swaths, called the ''thorax'' and ''flank patches'', the former running diagonally up from the

axilla The axilla (also, armpit, underarm or oxter) is the area on the human body directly under the shoulder joint. It includes the axillary space, an anatomical space within the shoulder girdle between the arm and the thoracic cage, bounded superior ...

and diagonally down again to form a triangular intrusion into the dark gray of the thorax and the latter rising more vertically along its anterior edge and extending further dorsally before gradually sloping posteriorly to merge with the white of the ventral side of the caudal peduncle. A dark gray, roughly triangular ''thorax field'' separates the two, while a narrower dark gray ''shoulder infill'' separates the thorax patch from the shoulder patch. Two light gray, forward directed ''caudal chevrons'' extend from the dark gray field above, forming a whitish ''peduncle blaze'' between them. The smooth sided flukes, usually about wide, are dark gray dorsally and clean white (occasionally light gray to gray) ventrally with a thin, dusky margin. Some small, dark gray ''speckling'' may be present on the body. Antarctic minkes lack the bright white, transverse ''flipper band'' of the common minke and the white ''shoulder blaze'' and bright white ''flipper patch'' (occupying the proximal two-thirds of the flipper) of the dwarf minke. Instead, their narrow, pointed flippers, about one-sixth to one-eighth of the total body length, are normally either a plain light gray with an almost white leading edge and a darker gray trailing edge or two-toned, with a thin light gray or dark band separating the darker gray of the proximal third of the flipper from the lighter gray of the distal two-thirds. Unlike the dwarf minke, the dark gray between the eye and flipper does not extend unto the ventral grooves of the throat to form a ''dark throat patch''; there is instead an irregularly shaped line running from about the level of the eye to the anterior insertion of the flipper, merging with the light gray of the shoulder patch. The longest baleen plates average in length and about in breadth and number 155 to 415 pairs (average 273). They are two-toned, with a dark gray outer margin on the posterior plates and a white outer margin on the anterior plates – though there may be some rows of dark plates amongst the white plates. There is a degree of asymmetry, with a smaller number of white plates on the left side than on the right (12% on average for the left versus 34% on average for the right). The dark gray border occupies about one third of the width of the plates (ranging from about one-seventh to over half of its width), with the average width being greater on the left side than on the right. In contrast, dwarf minkes have smaller baleen plates of only in length, have a greater number of white plates (over 54%, often 100%) that lack this asymmetrical coloration, and have a narrow dark gray border (when present) of less than 6% of the width of the plate. Antarctic minkes have an average of 42 to 44 thin, narrow ventral grooves (range 32 to 70) that extend to about 48% of the length of the body – well short of the umbilicus.

Distribution

Balaenoptera acutorostrata Neko Harbour Antarctica

Range

Antarctic minke whales occur throughout much of the Southern Hemisphere. In the western South Atlantic, they have been recorded off Brazil from 0°53'N to 27°35'S (nearly year-round),Siciliano, S., Emin-Lima, R., Rodrigues, A.L.F., de Sousa e Silva Jr. J., Scholl, T.G.S. and Moura de Oliveira, J. (2011). "Antarctic minke whales (''Balaenoptera bonaerensis'') near the Equator". ''Document'' SC/63/IA2 ''submitted to the IWC Scientific Committee's 63rd annual meeting''.

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

, off central

Patagonia Patagonia () refers to a geographical region that encompasses the southern end of South America, governed by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the southern section of the Andes Mountains with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and g ...

in Argentina (November–December), and in the

Strait of Magellan The Strait of Magellan (), also called the Straits of Magellan, is a navigable sea route in southern Chile separating mainland South America to the north and Tierra del Fuego to the south. The strait is considered the most important natural ...

and

Beagle Channel Beagle Channel (; Yahgan: ''Onašaga'') is a strait in the Tierra del Fuego Archipelago, on the extreme southern tip of South America between Chile and Argentina. The channel separates the larger main island of Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego f ...

of southern Chile (February–March), while in the eastern South Atlantic they have been recorded in the

Gulf of Guinea The Gulf of Guinea is the northeasternmost part of the tropical Atlantic Ocean from Cape Lopez in Gabon, north and west to Cape Palmas in Liberia. The intersection of the Equator and Prime Meridian (zero degrees latitude and longitude) is i ...

off

Togo Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...

,Segniagbeto, G. H., Van Waerebeek, K., Bouwessidjaou, J. E., Ketoh, K., Kpatcha, T. K., Okoumassou, K., and Ahoedo, K. (2014). "Annotated checklist and fisheries interactions of cetaceans in Togo, with evidence of Antarctic minke whale in the Gulf of Guinea". ''Integrative Zoology'' 9 (1): 1–13 (abstract only). off

Angola , national_anthem = "Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordinat ...

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

(February), and

Cape Province The Province of the Cape of Good Hope ( af, Provinsie Kaap die Goeie Hoop), commonly referred to as the Cape Province ( af, Kaapprovinsie) and colloquially as The Cape ( af, Die Kaap), was a province in the Union of South Africa and subsequen ...

, South Africa. In the Indian and Pacific Oceans, they have been recorded off

Natal Province The Province of Natal (), commonly called Natal, was a province of South Africa from May 1910 until May 1994. Its capital was Pietermaritzburg. During this period rural areas inhabited by the black African population of Natal were organized into ...

, South Africa,

Réunion Réunion (; french: La Réunion, ; previously ''Île Bourbon''; rcf, label= Reunionese Creole, La Rényon) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas department and region of France. It is located approximately east of the island o ...

(July), Australia (July–August), New Zealand,

New Caledonia ) , anthem = "" , image_map = New Caledonia on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of New Caledonia , map_caption = Location of New Caledonia , mapsize = 290px , subdivision_type = Sovereign st ...

(June),

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...

( 2°S, October),Felix, F., and B. Haase. (2013). "Northernmost record of the Antarctic minke whale (''Balaenoptera bonaerensis'') in the Eastern Pacific". ''Document'' SC/65a/IAO2 ''presented to the IWC Scientific Committee's 65th annual meeting''.

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

(12°30'S, September–October),Van Waerebeek, K. and Reyes, J. C. (1994). "A note on the incidental mortality of southern minke whales off western South America". ''Gillnets and cetaceans''. ''Reports of the International Whaling Commission'' (Special Issue 15): 521–524. and the northern fjords of southern Chile. Vagrants have been reported in

Suriname Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the nor ...

– an female was killed upstream the

Coppename River The Coppename is a river in Suriname (South America) in the district of Sipaliwini, forming part of the boundary between the districts of Coronie and Saramacca. Course The Coppename river begins in the Wilhelmina Mountains. Its tributaries ar ...

in October 1963;Husson, A.M. (1978). ''The mammals of Suriname''. E. J. Brill, Leiden. the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United ...

, where a female was found dead off the US state of

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is bord ...

in February 2013;Rosel, P. E., Wilcox, L. A., Monteiro, C., and M. C. Tumlin. (2016). "First record of Antarctic minke whale, Balaenoptera bonaerensis, in the northern Gulf of Mexico". ''Mar. Bio. Rec.'' 9:63. and off

Jan Mayen Jan Mayen () is a Norwegian volcanic island in the Arctic Ocean with no permanent population. It is long (southwest-northeast) and in area, partly covered by glaciers (an area of around the Beerenberg volcano). It has two parts: larger ...

(June) in the northeastern North Atlantic. They appear to disperse into offshore waters during the breeding season. In the spring (October–December), Japanese sighting surveys from 1976 to 1987 recorded relatively high encounter rates of minke whales off South Africa and

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

( 20° – 30°S, 30° – 40°E), off

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to t ...

(20° – 30°S, 110° – 120°E), around the Gambier Islands of

French Polynesia )Territorial motto: ( en, "Great Tahiti of the Golden Haze") , anthem = , song_type = Regional anthem , song = "Ia Ora 'O Tahiti Nui" , image_map = French Polynesia on the globe (French Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of French ...

(20° – 30°S, 130° – 140°W), and in the eastern South Pacific ( 10° – 20°S, 110° – 120°W). Later surveys, which distinguished between Antarctic and dwarf minke whales, showed that most of these were Antarctic minke whales. They have a circumpolar distribution in the Southern Ocean (where they have been recorded year-round),Scheidat, M., Bornemann, H., Burkhardt, E., Flores, H., Friedlaender, A., Kock, K. H., Lehnert, L., van Franeker, J. and Williams, R. (2008). "Antarctic sea ice habitat and minke whales". ''Annual Science Conference in Halifax'', 22–26 September, Halifax, Canada. including the

Bellingshausen Bellingshausen may refer to: * Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen (1778–1852), Baltic German explorer and officer in the Russian navy, after whom are named: ** Bellingshausen Plate, a tectonic plate ** Bellingshausen Sea, off the Antarctic Penins ...

Scotia Scotia is a Latin placename derived from ''Scoti'', a Latin name for the Gaels, first attested in the late 3rd century.Duffy, Seán. ''Medieval Ireland: An Encyclopedia''. Routledge, 2005. p.698 The Romans referred to Ireland as "Scotia" around ...

, Weddell and

Ross Sea The Ross Sea is a deep bay of the Southern Ocean in Antarctica, between Victoria Land and Marie Byrd Land and within the Ross Embayment, and is the southernmost sea on Earth. It derives its name from the British explorer James Clark Ross who ...

s. They are most abundant in the

MacKenzie Bay MacKenzie Bay is a relatively small embayment of the western extremity of the Amery Ice Shelf, Antarctica, about northeast of Foley Promontory. On 10 February 1931 the British Australian New Zealand Antarctic Research Expedition (BANZARE) sighte ...

Prydz Bay Prydz Bay is a deep embayment of Antarctica between the Lars Christensen Coast and Ingrid Christensen Coast. The Bay is at the downstream end of a giant glacial drainage system that originates in the East Antarctic interior. The Lambert Glacie ...

area ( 60° – 80°E, south of 66°S) and relatively numerous off

Queen Maud Land Queen Maud Land ( no, Dronning Maud Land) is a roughly region of Antarctica claimed by Norway as a dependent territory. It borders the claimed British Antarctic Territory 20° west and the Australian Antarctic Territory 45° east. In addi ...

( 0° – 20°E, 66° – 70°S), in the

Davis Davis may refer to: Places Antarctica * Mount Davis (Antarctica) * Davis Island (Palmer Archipelago) * Davis Valley, Queen Elizabeth Land Canada * Davis, Saskatchewan, an unincorporated community * Davis Strait, between Nunavut and Gre ...

(80° – 100°E, south of 66°S) and Ross Seas ( 160°E – 140°W, south of 70°S), and in the southern Weddell Sea ( 20° – 40°W, south of 70°S). Like their larger cousin the

blue whale The blue whale (''Balaenoptera musculus'') is a marine mammal and a baleen whale. Reaching a maximum confirmed length of and weighing up to , it is the largest animal known to have ever existed. The blue whale's long and slender body can ...

, they have a particular affinity for the

pack ice Drift ice, also called brash ice, is sea ice that is not attached to the shoreline or any other fixed object (shoals, grounded icebergs, etc.).Leppäranta, M. 2011. The Drift of Sea Ice. Berlin: Springer-Verlag. Unlike fast ice, which is "faste ...

. In the spring (October–November), they occur widely throughout the pack ice zone to near the edge of the

fast ice Fast ice (also called ''land-fast ice'', ''landfast ice'', and ''shore-fast ice'') is sea ice that is "fastened" to the coastline, to the sea floor along shoals or to grounded icebergs.Leppäranta, M. 2011. The Drift of Sea Ice. Berlin: Springer- ...

, where they have been observed between belts of pack ice and in

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cut, ...

s and

polynya A polynya () is an area of open water surrounded by sea ice. It is now used as a geographical term for an area of unfrozen seawater within otherwise contiguous pack ice or fast ice. It is a loanword from the Russian полынья (), which r ...

s – often in heavy ice cover. Some individuals have become trapped in the ice and were forced to overwinter in the Antarctic – for example, up to 120 "lesser rorquals" were trapped in a small breathing hole with sixty

killer whale The orca or killer whale (''Orcinus orca'') is a toothed whale belonging to the oceanic dolphin family, of which it is the largest member. It is the only extant species in the genus ''Orcinus'' and is recognizable by its black-and-white pat ...

s and an

Arnoux's beaked whale Arnoux's beaked whale (''Berardius arnuxii''), also called the southern four-toothed whale, southern beaked whale, New Zealand beaked whale, southern giant bottlenose whale and southern porpoise whale is one of the species of '' Berardius''. Arno ...

Prince Gustav Channel The Prince Gustav Channel was named in 1903 after Crown Prince Gustav of Sweden (later King Gustav V) by Otto Nordenskiöld of the Swedish Antarctic Expedition. The channel is bounded on the west by the Antarctic Peninsula and on the east by James ...

, east of the

Antarctic Peninsula The Antarctic Peninsula, known as O'Higgins Land in Chile and Tierra de San Martín in Argentina, and originally as Graham Land in the United Kingdom and the Palmer Peninsula in the United States, is the northernmost part of mainland Antarctic ...

and west of

James Ross Island James Ross Island is a large island off the southeast side and near the northeastern extremity of the Antarctic Peninsula, from which it is separated by Prince Gustav Channel. Rising to , it is irregularly shaped and extends in a north–south ...

, in August 1955.Taylor, R. J. F. (1957). "An unusual record of three species of whale being restricted to pools in Antarctic sea-ice". In ''Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London'' 129 (3): 325–331 (abstract only).

Migration and movements

Two Antarctic minke whales marked with "Discovery tags" – stainless steel tubes with an inscription and number engraved on them – in the Southern Ocean during the austral summer (January) were recovered a few years later off northeastern Brazil ( 6° – 7°S, 34°W) during the austral winter (July and September, respectively). The first was marked off Queen Maud Land () and the second southeast of the

South Orkney Islands The South Orkney Islands are a group of islands in the Southern Ocean, about north-east of the tip of the Antarctic PeninsulaAdélie Coast () and recovered the following season off the Princess Ragnhild Coast (), a minimum of 114 degrees of longitude. The second was marked north of

Cape Adare Cape Adare is a prominent cape of black basalt forming the northern tip of the Adare Peninsula and the north-easternmost extremity of Victoria Land, East Antarctica. Description Marking the north end of Borchgrevink Coast and the west ...

() and recovered nearly six years later northwest of the Riiser-Larsen Peninsula (), a minimum of over 139 degrees of longitude. Both were marked and recovered in January.Buckland, S. T. and Duff, E. I. (1989). "Analysis of southern hemisphere minke whale mark-recovery data". ''Reports of the International Whaling Commission'' (Special Issue 11): 121–143. On 20 January 1972, a broken-off bill of a

marlin Marlins are fish from the family Istiophoridae, which includes about 10 species. A marlin has an elongated body, a spear-like snout or bill, and a long, rigid dorsal fin which extends forward to form a crest. Its common name is thought to deri ...

(''Makaira'' sp.) was found embedded in the rostrum of a minke whale caught in the Southern Ocean at , providing indirect evidence of migration to the warmer tropical or subtropical waters of the Indian Ocean.

Population

Earlier estimates suggested that there were several hundred thousand minke whales in the Southern Ocean. In 2012, the Scientific Committee of the International Whaling Commission agreed upon a best estimate of 515,000. The Report of the Scientific Committee acknowledged that this estimate is subject to some degree of negative bias because some minke whales would have been outside the surveyable ice edge boundaries.International Whaling Commission. (2013). "Report of the Scientific Committee". ''Journal of Cetacean Research and Management'' 14 (Supplement): 1–86.

Biology

Natural history

Antarctic minke whales become sexually mature at 5 to 8 years of age for males and 7 to 9 years of age for females. Both become physically mature at about 18 years of age. After a gestation period of about 10 months, a single calf of is born – twin and triplet fetuses have been reported, but are rare. After a lactation period of about six months, the calf is weaned at a length of . The calving interval is estimated to be about 12.5 to 14 months. Peak calving is from May to June, while peak conception is from August to September. Females may live up to 43 years of age.Evans, Peter G. H. (1987). ''The Natural History of Whales and Dolphins''. Facts on File.

Prey

Antarctic minke whales feed almost exclusively on euphausiids. In the Southern Ocean, over 90% of individuals fed on

Antarctic krill Antarctic krill (''Euphausia superba'') is a species of krill found in the Antarctic waters of the Southern Ocean. It is a small, swimming crustacean that lives in large schools, called swarms, sometimes reaching densities of 10,000–30,000 ind ...

(''Euphausia superba''); '' E. crystallorophias'' also formed an important part of the diet in some areas, particularly in the relatively shallow waters of Prydz Bay. Rare and incidental items include

calanoid Calanoida is an order of copepods, a group of arthropods commonly found as zooplankton. The order includes around 46 families with about 1800 species of both marine and freshwater copepods between them. Description Calanoids can be distinguis ...

copepod Copepods (; meaning "oar-feet") are a group of small crustaceans found in nearly every freshwater and saltwater habitat. Some species are planktonic (inhabiting sea waters), some are benthic (living on the ocean floor), a number of species have ...

s, the pelagic

amphipod Amphipoda is an order of malacostracan crustaceans with no carapace and generally with laterally compressed bodies. Amphipods range in size from and are mostly detritivores or scavengers. There are more than 9,900 amphipod species so far descri ...

Themisto gaudichaudii ''Themisto gaudichaudii'' is an amphipod crustacean of the suborder Hyperiidea. Relatives The 260 species of hyperiid amphipods are large-eyed and planktonic amphipods, whereas gammarid amphipods have smaller eyes and tend to live on the sea fl ...

'', Antarctic sidestripes (''Pleuragramma antarcticum''), the crocodile icefish ''

Cryodraco ''Cryodraco'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Channichthyidae, the crocodile icefishes. They are found in the Southern Ocean. While ''C. antarcticus'' has minor commercial importance, ''C. atkinsoni'' and ''C. pa ...

antarcticus'', nototheniids, and

myctophid Lanternfishes (or myctophids, from the Greek μυκτήρ ''myktḗr'', "nose" and ''ophis'', "serpent") are small mesopelagic fish of the large family Myctophidae. One of two families in the order Myctophiformes, the Myctophidae are represent ...

s. The majority of individuals examined off South Africa had empty stomachs. The few that did have food in their stomachs had all preyed on euphausiids, mainly '' Thysanoessa gregaria'' and ''E. recurva''.

Predation

Antarctic minke whales are the main prey item of Type A

s in the Southern Ocean. Their remains have been found in the stomachs of killer whales caught by the Soviets, while individuals caught by the Japanese exhibited damaged flippers with tooth rake scars and parallel scarring on the body suggestive of killer whale attacks. Large groups of killer whales have also been observed chasing, attacking, and even killing Antarctic minke whales. Most attacks involve Type A killer whales, but on one occasion, in January 2009, a group of ten Type B or pack ice killer whales, which normally preyed on

Weddell seal The Weddell seal (''Leptonychotes weddellii'') is a relatively large and abundant true seal with a circumpolar distribution surrounding Antarctica. The Weddell seal was discovered and named in the 1820s during expeditions led by British seali ...

s in the area by wave-washing them off

ice floe An ice floe () is a large pack of floating ice often defined as a flat piece at least 20 m across at its widest point, and up to more than 10 km across. Drift ice is a floating field of sea ice composed of several ice floes. They may cau ...

s, were observed to attack, kill, and feed on a juvenile Antarctic minke whale in

Laubeuf Fjord Laubeuf Fjord is a sound in Antarctica, long in a north-south direction and averaging wide, lying between the east-central portion of Adelaide Island and the southern part of Arrowsmith Peninsula, Graham Land. It connects Hanusse Bay to the n ...

, between

Adelaide Island Adelaide Island is a large, mainly ice-covered island, long and wide, lying at the north side of Marguerite Bay off the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula. The Ginger Islands lie off the southern end. Mount Bodys is the easternmost moun ...

and the

Parasites and epibiotics

Little has been published on the parasitic and epibiotic fauna of Antarctic minke whales. Individuals were often found with orange-brown to yellowish patches of the

diatom A diatom ( Neo-Latin ''diatoma''), "a cutting through, a severance", from el, διάτομος, diátomos, "cut in half, divided equally" from el, διατέμνω, diatémno, "to cut in twain". is any member of a large group comprising se ...

''Cocconeis ceticola'' on their bodies – 35.7% off South Africa and 67.5% in the Antarctic. Of a sample of whales caught by a Japanese expedition along the ice edge, one-fifth was infested with cyamids (those from one whale were identified as ''Cyamus balaenopterae''). Several hundred of these whale lice can be found on a single whale, with an average of 55 per individual – most are found at the end of the ventral grooves and around the umbilicus. The copepod ''

Pennella ''Pennella'' is a genus of large copepods which are common parasites of large pelagic fishes. They begin their life cycle as a series of free-swimming planktonic larvae. The females metamorphose into a parasitic stage when they attach to a host a ...

'' was found on only one whale.

Cestode Cestoda is a class of parasitic worms in the flatworm phylum (Platyhelminthes). Most of the species—and the best-known—are those in the subclass Eucestoda; they are ribbon-like worms as adults, known as tapeworms. Their bodies consist of ...

s were commonly found in the intestines (one example was identified as ''Tetrabothrius affinis'').

Behavior

Group size and composition

Antarctic minke whales are more gregarious than their smaller counterparts, the common and dwarf minke whale. The average group size in the Antarctic was about 2.4 (adjusted downwards for observer bias), with about a quarter of the sightings consisting of singles and one-fifth of pairs; the largest aggregation consisted of 60 individuals. Off South Africa, the average group size was about two, with singles (nearly 46%) and pairs (31%) being the most common – the largest was 15. Off Brazil, most sightings were of singles (32.6%) or pairs (31.5%), with the largest group consisting of 17 individuals. Like common minke whales, Antarctic minkes exhibit a great deal of spatial and temporal segregation by sex, age class, and reproductive condition. Off South Africa, immature animals predominate from April to May, while mature whales (mainly males) dominate from June onwards – in August and September mature males often accompany cow-calf pairs. Off Brazil, a good proportion of the individuals are immature (particularly for females) in July and August, but by September most are mature, and by October and November nearly all are mature. Females outnumber males two to one off Brazil, while the opposite is true off South Africa, where males outnumber females nearly two to one. Over a quarter of the females off South Africa were found to be lactating, whereas lactating females are very rare in the Antarctic – though a cow-calf pair was observed in the austral winter (August) in the

Lazarev Sea The Lazarev Sea (, ''More Lazareva'') is a proposed name for a marginal sea of the Southern Ocean. It would be bordered by two proposals from a 2002 International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) draft, a King Haakon VII Sea to the west and a R ...

. In the sub-Antarctic and Antarctic, immature animals are normally solitary and occur in lower latitudes further offshore, while mature whales are typically found in mixed groups (usually one sex outnumbers the other, and groups composed solely of males or females are occasionally found) and occur in higher latitudes. Mature males dominate in middle latitudes, while mature females predominate in the higher latitudes of the pack ice zone – from two-thirds to three-quarters of the whales in the Ross Sea consist of pregnant females. An immature Antarctic minke whale was observed briefly associating with four dwarf minke whales on the

Great Barrier Reef The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over over an area of approximately . The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, A ...

in July 2000. Unlike common minke whales, they often have a prominent blow, which is particularly visible in the calmer waters near the pack ice. In the narrow holes and cracks in the pack ice they have been observed spyhopping – raising their head vertically – to expose their blowholes to breathe; individuals have even been seen to break breathing holes through sea ice in the winter (July–August), rising in a similar manner. When traveling fast in open water they can create larger versions of the "roostertail" of spray created by their smaller cousin, the

Dall's porpoise Dall's porpoise (''Phocoenoides dalli'') is a species of porpoise endemic to the North Pacific. It is the largest of porpoises and the only member of the genus ''Phocoenoides''. The species is named after American naturalist W. H. Dall. Taxono ...

. During bouts of feeding they will lunge multiple times onto their side (either left or right) into a dense patch of prey with mouth agape and ventral pleats expanded as their gular pouch fills with prey-laden water. After making a series of shorter dives during which they will surface anywhere from two to fifteen times, they will make a longer dive of up fourteen minutes. Shallower dives of normally less than are made at night (from about 8 p.m. to about 2 am) while deeper dives that can be over deep are made during the day (from about 2 a.m. to about 8 pm).

Vocalizations

Antarctic minke whales produce a variety of sounds, including whistles, calls reminiscent of a clanging bell, clicks, screeches, grunts, downsweeps, and a sound called

bio-duck Bio-duck is a sound recorded in the Southern Ocean, specifically in Antarctic Waters and the West Coast of Australia. It was first reported in 1960 by submarine personnel, who gave the sound its name, associating it with that of a duck. Once dubb ...

. Downsweeps are intense, low frequency calls that sweep down from about 130 to 115 Hz to about 60 Hz, with a peak frequency of 83 Hz. Each sweep has a duration of 0.2 seconds and an average source level of about 147

decibel The decibel (symbol: dB) is a relative unit of measurement equal to one tenth of a bel (B). It expresses the ratio of two values of a power or root-power quantity on a logarithmic scale. Two signals whose levels differ by one decibel have a ...

s at a reference pressure of one

micropascal The pascal (symbol: Pa) is the unit of pressure in the International System of Units (SI), and is also used to quantify internal pressure, stress, Young's modulus, and ultimate tensile strength. The unit, named after Blaise Pascal, is defined as ...

at one metre. The bio-duck call, first described in the 1960s and named by sonar operators on

Oberon-class submarine The ''Oberon'' class was a ship class of 27 British-designed submarines operated by five different nations. They were designed as a direct follow-on from the ''Porpoise'' class: physical dimensions were the same, but stronger materials were us ...

s for its purported resemblance to the quack of a duck, consist of a series of anywhere from three to a dozen pulse trains that range from 50 to 200 Hz and have a peak frequency of about 154 Hz – they sometimes also possess harmonics of up to 1 kHz. They are repeated about every 1.5 to 3 seconds and have a source level of 140

s at a reference pressure of one

at one metre. Their source remained a mystery for decades until attributed to the Antarctic minke whale in a paper published in 2014 – though it had been suggested to originate from this species as early as the mid-2000s.Matthews, D., Macleod, R., and R. D. McCauley. (2004). "Bio-duck activity in the Perth Canyon: an automatic detection algorithm". In ''Proceedings of Acoustics'' 2004, 3–5 November 2004, Gold Coast, Australia, pp. 63–66. It has been recorded in the Ross and Lazarev Seas, over

Perth Canyon Perth Canyon is a submarine canyon located on the edge of the continental shelf off the coast of Perth, Western Australia, approximately west of Rottnest Island. It was carved by the Swan River, probably before the Tertiary, when this part of ...

, off

from late June to early December,McCauley, R., Bannister, J., Burton, C., Jenner, C., Rennie, S., and C. S. Kent. (2004). "Western Australian exercise area blue whale project: final summary report". ''CMST Report'' R2004–29, Project 350, 1–73. and in the

King Haakon VII Sea King Haakon VII Sea ( no, King Haakon VII Hav) is a proposed name for part of the Southern Ocean on the coast of East Antarctica. Geography The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO), often recognized as the authority for worldwide wa ...

from April to December. The sound seems to be made near the surface before foraging dives, but nothing is known of its function.

Whaling

The

barque A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing vessel with three or more masts having the fore- and mainmasts rigged square and only the mizzen (the aftmost mast) rigged fore and aft. Sometimes, the mizzen is only partly fore-and-aft rigged, b ...

'', sent by whaling pioneer

Svend Foyn Svend Foyn (July 9, 1809 – November 30, 1894) was a Norwegian whaling, shipping magnate and philanthropist. He pioneered revolutionary methods for hunting and processing whales. Svend Foyn introduced the modern harpoon cannon and brough ...

and led by

Henrik Johan Bull Henrik Johan Bull (13 October 18441 June 1930) was a Norwegian businessman and whaler. Henry Bull was one of the pioneers in the exploration of Antarctica. Biography Henrik Johan Bull was born at Stokke in Vestfold County, Norway. He attended sc ...

, managed to harpoon at least three minke whales in the Antarctic between December 1894 and January 1895. Two were saved, both being used for fresh meat (one had only yielded two barrels of blubber).Bull, H. J. (1896). ''The cruise of the 'Antarctic' to the South Polar regions''. London: Edward Arnold. In December 1923, when the men of the first modern whaling expedition to visit the Ross Sea saw "a number of spouts" after leaving the ice edge they were soon disgusted to find out that they from lowly minke whales. The few caught by the British in the 1950s were taken more for curiosity than anything else. The chemist Christopher Ash, who had served on the British factory ship ''Balaena'' during this time, stated that they were small enough to be lifted by their tails using a 10-ton spring balance and weighed entire. "Generally this is done when there are no other whales about and the deck empty except for a crowd of sightseers," Ash explained, "but this crowd quickly scatters when the whale is just hanging free and starts to spin around and swing from side to side, as it almost always does." Like Bull before him, Ash commented on their meat, which he described as "fine-textured in comparison with the other whales, and if properly cooked almost indistinguishable from beef."Ash, C. (1962). ''Whaler's Eye''. George Allen and Unwin Ltd., London. They were primarily exploited for this very reason – their high quality meat – in later years, which fetched as much as two dollars a pound in 1977.Tønnessen, J. and A. O. Johnsen. (1982). ''The history of modern whaling''. University of California Press, Berkeley. With the larger blue, fin, and sei whales depleted, whaling nations focused their attention on the smaller, but more numerous, minke whales. Though the Soviets had caught several hundred in the 1950s, it was not until 1971–72 that a significant catch was made, with over 3,000 being taken (nearly all by a single Japanese expedition). Not wanting to repeat the same mistakes it had made with previous species, the

set a quota of 5,000 for the following season, 1972–73. Despite these precautions, the quota was exceeded by 745 – later quotas would be as high as 8,000. During the commercial whaling era, from 1950 to 1951 to 1986–87, 97,866 minke whales (the vast majority probably Antarctic minkes) were caught in the Southern Ocean – mainly by the Japanese and Soviets – with a peak of 7,900 being reached in 1976–77. Harpoon guns of lesser caliber and "cold harpoons" (harpoons without explosive shells) had to be used due to their small size, while no air was pumped into the carcasses when they were tied alongside for towing to ensure the greatest quality of meat. While an expedition or two was fitted out each year specifically for minke whales – the ''Jinyo Maru'' in 1971–72, the ''Chiyo Maru'' from 1972 to 1973 to 1974–75, and the ''Kyokusei Maru'' in 1973–74 – most expeditions, which targeted other species, ignored minkes during the peak of the whaling season (November–December and late February to early March) and only caught them on whaling grounds relatively close to those of larger ones – the minke whaling grounds were much further south (south of 60°S) than those for fin and sei whales. From 1987 to the present, Japan has been sending a fleet consisting of a single factory ship and several catcher/spotting vessels to the Southern Ocean to catch Antarctic minkes under Article VIII of the IWC, which allows the culling of whales for scientific research. The first research program, Japanese Research Program in the Antarctic (JARPA), began in 1987–88, when 273 Antarctic minkes were caught. The quota and catch soon increased to 330 and 440. In 2005–06, the second research program, JARPA II, began. In its first two years, in what Japan called its "feasibility study", 850 Antarctic minkes, as well as 10 fin whales, were to be taken each season (2005–06 and 2006–07). The quota was reached in the first season, but due to a fire, only 508 Antarctic minkes were caught in the second. In 2007–08, because of constant harassment from environmental groups, they failed to reach the quota again, with a catch of only 551 whales. Beginning in 1968, larger numbers of minke whales were caught off Natal, South Africa, mainly to supplement the dwindling supply of larger species, particularly the

. A total of 1,113 whales (nearly all Antarctic minke, but a few dwarf minke as well) were caught off the province between 1968 and 1975, with a peak of 199 in 1971. They were taken by whale catchers of 539 to 593 gross tons with 90 mm harpoon guns mounted on their bows, which brought them to the whaling station at Durban () for processing. Gunners refused to take minkes early in the day, because sharks devoured any minke carcasses that were flagged, forcing the catchers to tow them during the chasing of other whales and thus slowing them down. They also could not use

asdic Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigate, measure distances ( ranging), communicate with or detect objects on ...

, as it frightened them and lead to protracted chases. The season lasted from February to September, with a peak in the last month of the season. In 1966, minke whales became the target of whaling operations off northeastern Brazil ( 6° – 8°S) due, once again, to the decline of sei whales. Over 14,000 were caught between 1949 and 1985, with a peak of 1,039 in 1975. They were caught by a succession of whale catchers – the 367-ton ''Koyo Maru 2'' (1966–1971), the 306-ton ''Seiho Maru 2'' (1971–1977), and the 395-ton ''Cabo Branco'' (also called ''Katsu Maru 10'', 1977–1985) – up to 100 miles offshore and brought to the whaling station at Costinha, operated by the Compania de Pesca Norte do Brasil (COPESBRA) since 1911. The season lasted from June to December, with a peak in either September or October. An male Antarctic minke whale (confirmed by genetics) was caught west of Jan Mayen () in the northeastern North Atlantic on 30 June 1996.

Other mortality

Entanglement in fishing gear and probably ship strikes are other sources of mortality. The former have been reported off Peru and Brazil, and the latter off

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest o ...

. All involved calves or juveniles.

Conservation status

The Antarctic minke whale is currently considered Near Threatened by the IUCN red list. However, the IUCN states that the population size is "clearly in the hundreds of thousands". The Antarctic minke whale is listed on Appendix IIAppendix I and Appendix II
" of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS). As amended by the Conference of the Parties in 1985, 1988, 1991, 1994, 1997, 1999, 2002, 2005 and 2008. Effective: 5 March 2009. of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS). It is listed on Appendix II as it has an unfavourable conservation status or would benefit significantly from international co-operation organised by tailored agreements. In addition, the Antarctic minke whale is covered by the Memorandum of Understanding for the Conservation of Cetaceans and Their Habitats in the Pacific Islands Region.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Antarctic Minke Whale Cetaceans of the Atlantic Ocean Cetaceans of the Pacific Ocean Baleen whales Cetaceans of the Indian Ocean Mammals described in 1867 Taxa named by Hermann Burmeister