Minke Whale

Minke Whale, also known as piked whale, small, nimble whale that leaps clear of the water like a dolphin and shows curiosity by venturing close to ships. Plentiful in numbers, experts estimate there are currently about 500,000 minke whales worldwide.

Minke whales live in polar, temperate, and tropical oceans worldwide, although they prefer cooler seas to tropical regions. They are separated into three populations: one in the North Atlantic, a second in the North Pacific, and a third in the southern hemisphere. Most spend summers in polar waters feeding and winters in warmer waters, where they breed. Typically travelling alone or in pairs, minke whales enter bays, lagoons, and shallow coastal waters. They also congregate in larger groups to feed, particularly in spring or summer when food is plentiful.

An adult ranges in length from 7 to 10 m (23 to 33 ft) and weighs 5 to 10 tons. The body of a minke whale is slender and streamlined, with a bullet-like, pointed head and a backward-curving dorsal fin. The minke whale's sleek, smooth-skinned body, slim flippers, and pointed flukes (tail lobes) produce its distinctive pikelike appearance.

Minke whales vary in color. Their backs can be black, brown, or dark gray, and their bellies may be white, pale gray, or pale brown. The upper side of their flippers may have a white band. These whales are fast swimmers, and they normally dive for 3 to 8 minutes, but they can stay underwater for as long as 20 minutes. Their blows, or exhaled spurts of water, are frequent and fairly low, reaching about 2 to 3 m (about 7 to 10 ft) high.

Minke whales belong to the group of whales that have no teeth, which are called baleen whales. Baleen whales swallow large mouthfuls of seawater and use their baleen—bony, sievelike plates hanging from the upper jaw—to strain out small organisms to eat. Minkes eat a variety of foods, including krill—small, shrimplike crustaceans—and various fish.

Females typically give birth to a single calf about 10 to 11 months after mating. Newborn calves weigh 350 to 450 kg (770 to 990 lb) and nurse for approximately six months, or until their baleen is sufficiently formed to enable them to feed themselves.

Commercial whalers began targeting minke whales in the 20th century after whalers had depleted populations of larger whales. The population of minke whales subsequently began to decline, and they were included among protected species in the 1986 international ban on commercial whaling. Even so, Inuits (native peoples of the arctic) have been allowed to take a limited number of minke whales each year for subsistence (life-sustaining) and cultural purposes. In 1993, without international permission, Norway began whaling again. Some Norwegian scientists claim that current populations of minke whales are large enough that limited whaling will not endanger them. In 1997 Norwegian whalers harvested about 500 minke whales. In addition to being hunted, these whales frequently become entangled in both coastal and offshore fishing nets. Water pollution and climate change present environmental threats to their survival as well.

Scientific classification: The minke whale is a member of the rorqual family, Balaenopteridae, in the order Cetacea, suborder Mysticeti. It is classified as Balaenoptera acutorstrata.

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