Balaenoptera acutorostrata
Dublin Core
Title
Balaenoptera acutorostrata
Subject
Taxonomy
Kingdom : Animalia
Phylum : Chordata
Class : Mammalia
Order : Cetacea
Family : Balaenopteridae
Genus : Balaenoptera
Species : Balaenoptera acutorostrata
Kingdom : Animalia
Phylum : Chordata
Class : Mammalia
Order : Cetacea
Family : Balaenopteridae
Genus : Balaenoptera
Species : Balaenoptera acutorostrata
Common name/ vernacular name
Common Minke Whale
Common Minke Whale
Description
Habitat and Ecology
Common minke whales prefer temperate to boreal waters but are also found in tropical and subtropical areas. They feed most often in cooler waters at higher latitudes and can be found in both coastal/inshore and oceanic/offshore areas. Their distribution is considered cosmopolitan because they can occur in polar, temperate, and tropical waters in most seas and areas worldwide. Minke whales, like some other species of cetaceans, migrate seasonally and can travel long distances.
Common minke whales prefer temperate to boreal waters but are also found in tropical and subtropical areas. They feed most often in cooler waters at higher latitudes and can be found in both coastal/inshore and oceanic/offshore areas. Their distribution is considered cosmopolitan because they can occur in polar, temperate, and tropical waters in most seas and areas worldwide. Minke whales, like some other species of cetaceans, migrate seasonally and can travel long distances.
Morphology/ physical description
Minke whales are the smallest of the baleen whales with 50-70 throat grooves. They are part of the largest group of baleen whales called the rorquals (Family Balaenopteridae, the family that includes: blue whales, Bryde’s whales, fin whales, humpback whales, minke whales, and sei whales). These long, slender whales are much more streamlined than other whales. They have a pointed snout that is distinctively triangular, narrow, and pointed (hence its nicknames “sharp-headed finner” and “little piked whale”), paired blowholes, and a broad, flat rostrum (upper part of the head). The throat grooves, in addition to streamlining the shape of the whale, allow the throat area (called the cavum ventrale) to expand tremendously during feeding.
Minke whales are the smallest of the baleen whales with 50-70 throat grooves. They are part of the largest group of baleen whales called the rorquals (Family Balaenopteridae, the family that includes: blue whales, Bryde’s whales, fin whales, humpback whales, minke whales, and sei whales). These long, slender whales are much more streamlined than other whales. They have a pointed snout that is distinctively triangular, narrow, and pointed (hence its nicknames “sharp-headed finner” and “little piked whale”), paired blowholes, and a broad, flat rostrum (upper part of the head). The throat grooves, in addition to streamlining the shape of the whale, allow the throat area (called the cavum ventrale) to expand tremendously during feeding.
Economic importance
Minke whales have been hunted by people for products such as meat, oil, and baleen since the Middle Ages. Regardless, it has never been of large commercial importance until other whale species were overhunted. Annual kill peaked in 1976 with 12,398 individuals, but now is down to < 1,000. These are taken primarily by indigenous peoples for food, or by scientists for research.
Minke whales have been hunted by people for products such as meat, oil, and baleen since the Middle Ages. Regardless, it has never been of large commercial importance until other whale species were overhunted. Annual kill peaked in 1976 with 12,398 individuals, but now is down to < 1,000. These are taken primarily by indigenous peoples for food, or by scientists for research.
Conservation status/action
Reducing Vessel Strikes, Minimizing Whale Watching Harassment, Addressing Ocean Noise, Overseeing Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response, Marine Mammal Unusual Mortality Events.
Reducing Vessel Strikes, Minimizing Whale Watching Harassment, Addressing Ocean Noise, Overseeing Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response, Marine Mammal Unusual Mortality Events.
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
Least Concern
Least Concern
Species status / threats
The impacts of climate change on baleen whales may result from altered oceanographic conditions, as well as the timing and distribution of sea ice coverage. Changes in prey distribution could lead to changes in foraging behavior, nutritional stress, and diminished reproduction for minke whales. Minke whales get entangled in fishing gear, including groundfish trawls in Alaska, as well as drift and set gillnets off California /Oregon /Washington. They also become entangled in driftnets, gillnets, herring weirs, lobster traps, and tuna purse seine nets from numerous fisheries in waters of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic United States and Canada.
The impacts of climate change on baleen whales may result from altered oceanographic conditions, as well as the timing and distribution of sea ice coverage. Changes in prey distribution could lead to changes in foraging behavior, nutritional stress, and diminished reproduction for minke whales. Minke whales get entangled in fishing gear, including groundfish trawls in Alaska, as well as drift and set gillnets off California /Oregon /Washington. They also become entangled in driftnets, gillnets, herring weirs, lobster traps, and tuna purse seine nets from numerous fisheries in waters of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic United States and Canada.
Creator
Balaenoptera acutorostrata Lacépède, 1804
Source
- https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/minke-whale.
- https://www.marinebio.org/species/minke-whales/balaenoptera-acutorostrata/
- https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Balaenoptera_acutorostrata/#economic_importance_positive
- https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/minke-whale#conservation-management
- https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/minke-whale
Publisher
Intan Rabitah Mustafa
Contributor
Intan Rabitah Mustafa
Language
English
Collection
Citation
Balaenoptera acutorostrata Lacépède, 1804, “Balaenoptera acutorostrata,” BIDARA, accessed February 4, 2026, https://bidara.uthm.edu.my/items/show/30.