The Balaenoptera bonaerensis, or Antarctic Minke Whale is a marvelous animal, one the smallest whales but yet one of the most interesting.

 

The Antarctic Minke Whale is the second to the smallest whale.  They average in length from 6.9 meters to 7.4 meters, the females are bigger than the males.  Both sexes usually weigh around 14 tons.  They do not have much coloration, mainly black and grey.  Under each of their flippers, there is a white band.  There are between 240 and 360 baleen plates on each side of their mouth; have a pointed snout distinctively triangular.  Like most, or mainly all whales it has paired blowholes.  They are very unique looking animals. 

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Its feeding and habitat range are much different from other whales.  By, side lunging into schools of prey, as well as gulping large amounts of water.  They are very well adapted to their very cold environment and migrate seasonally often traveling far distances.  Most liking they will be found in tropical and subtropical areas, they can also be found in both coastal inshore and oceanic offshore areas.

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The waters with Antarctic Minke Whales have been divided into four stocks: Alaskan Stock, Canadian Eastern Stock, the California, Oregon, Washington Stock, and Hawaii Stock.  The population in Alaska and the Hawaiian Islands is unknown.  The California, Oregon, and Washington population is estimated to be 2,500-3,000.  And there are 510,000-1,400,000 in the Southern Hemisphere.  The population is shrinking because of commercial whalers.  Several thousand have been hunted in the Southern Hemisphere by countries such as China, Iceland, Korea, Russia, and Taiwan.  Without commercial hunters, there would be several thousand of these whales still in the ocean. 

 

These whales feed on a wide variety of fish, squid, krill, copepods, and other small crustaceans.  They feed close to the edge of the polar pack ice, in bays, or creeks.  In the winter they move north to the lower latitudes.  Their role in the food web is plankton and krill.  They mainly compete for food with a small crustacean called krill. 

 

Between Killer Whales and Norwegian and Japanese commercialist who harvest them, they are basically the only things that eat this animal.  It is unknown how the animal evades from being eaten, other than the whale trying to swim away it isn’t much it can do to save its life.     

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There are many interesting facts about this fascinating whale but the most exotic facts are, its size compared to other whales is very small.  Females are slightly bigger than the males; other females can be huge compared to the males. And the word Minke comes from a whaler many years ago.  As I read about the amazing and quite appealing creature what stood out the most was, their body form is shaped like a torpedo.  They are characterized by a white patch on each flipper.  Weigh around 14 tons, that may sound huge to us but there are other whales out in the sea weighing maybe even five times more.

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In conclusion this animal has been very exciting to learn about.  Again it may be the one smallest but still one of the most marvelous whales out in the sea.  Out of all the creatures in the sea I think that this whale is the best.  It may not have an exciting coloration but it does have a unique shape and look.  I’m very thrilled I was able to research this incredible animal.  

 

Author: Nicole W.
Published: 02/2011

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Sources:
Reeves, R. R, P.  A. Folkens, et al. (2002). Guide to Marine Mammals  of the World. New York, Alfred A. Knopf

Jefferson, T. A, M. A. Webber, and R. L Pitman. (2008) World, A Compressive Guide to their Identification. Amsterdam, Elsevier

Soper, Tony. Antarctica Wildlife. Vol. 5. Guilford, Connecticut Globe Petquot, 2008. Print. 

 

Photo Credit:
This image is in the public domain because it was released by the copyright holder Potverk