Minke+whale

Animal: Animal Group: Description of animal group ||  || Minke whales (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) are baleen whales (Suborder Mysticeti). Kingdom Animalia (animals) Phylum Chordata (vertebrates) Class Mammalia (mammals) Order Cetacea (whales and dolphins) Suborder Mysticeti (baleen whales) Family Balaenopteridae Genus Balaenoptera Species acutorostrata The minke whale is the smallest baleen whale with 50-70 throat grooves. It is a rorqual whale (baleen whale with throat grooves). They are the most abundant baleen whale (world wide population estimated to be close to 800 000). Minke whales have a characteristic white band on each flipper, contrasting with its very dark gray top color. They have 2 blowholes, like all baleen whales. Other baleen whales are humpbacks and right whales.. ||  ||   || Observation Describe your animal (Colour, size, body parts) || The minke whale is the smallest baleen whale with 50-70 throat grooves. It is a rorqual whale (baleen whale with throat grooves). They are the most abundant baleen whale. Minke whales have a characteristic white band on each flipper, contrasting with its very dark gray top color. They have 2 blowholes, like all baleen whales.
 * __**Classification**__
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 * __**Description**__

The minke whales is the smallest member of the rorqual family of whales (those whales with baleen, a dorsal fin, and throat pleats). One of its most distinctive features is the narrow, triangular rostrum (upper jaw), which is proportionally shorter than in other rorquals. A single ridge extends from the tip of the rostrum to the blowhole. The minke is a baleen whale, having 280 to 300 yellowish-white baleen plates, usually no more than 11 inches in length, on each side of its upper jaw. Its body is slender and streamlined. Like all rorquals, the minke has a series of 50 to 70 ventral grooves, or pleats, that expand during feeding. COLOR: The minke is counter-shaded-black to dark gray on top, white below. Some minkes have a light-colored chevron on the back behind the head. Two areas of lighter gray appear on each side: one behind the flippers and another below and forward of the dorsal fin. Distinctive to minke whales outside of the Antarctic is a white band on each flipper. The band is usually absent in Antarctic minkes, although some show an irregular banding pattern. FINS AND FLUKE: The dorsal fin of the minke is tall and falcate (curved), and is located two-thirds of the way back on the body. Its flippers are slender and pointed at the tips. Flukes are broad, up to one-fourth of the body length, pointed at the tips, and notched in the center. Length and weight Adult males average about 8 m (26 feet) with a maximum length of 9.4 m (31 feet), while adult females average 8.2 m (27 feet) with a maximum length of 10.2 m (33 feet). Both males and females weigh about 10 tons. Both sexes are slightly larger in the southern hemisphere. || Describe how your animal behaves (moves, flies, runs) || Minke whales are generally solitary animals or they are seen in pairs or threes. Larger groups are sometimes found in high latitudes in both hemispheres and groups may number 10 to 15 individuals. Minkes often approach boats, especially when stationary, and are notoriously inquisitive, as such they are more likely to be seen closely than other rorquals.
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 * **__Movement:__**

Like other rorquals, minkes migrate to tropical or warm temperate waters in the winter months and spend the summer months at higher latitudes in polar waters where the long day length leads to algal blooms in the sea and associated increases in plankton and fish stocks means good a feeding time. || Where it lives || Minke whales live at the surface of the ocean in all but polar seas.
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 * **__Habitat:__**

Minkes are found in all oceans, though they are rarely observed in the tropics. They seem to prefer icy waters, and are found right up to the edge of the icepack in polar regions, and have actually become entrapped in the ice fields on occasion. Antarctic Minke Whales appear to occupy primarily offshore and pelagic habitats within cold temperate to Antarctic waters between 21° S and 65° S (Bannister et al. 1996; Thiele & Gill 1999).

On the winter breeding grounds, Antarctic Minke Whales appear to occupy pelagic waters exceeding 600 m depth (Zerbini et al. 1997). During the summer, they head for higher latitudes to feed. Antarctic Minke Whales occur well into the sea ice, with winter records extending 350 km south of the ice-edge (Thiele & Gill 1999). During winter, eight of nine Antarctic Minke Whale sightings occurred in ice heavier than 8/10 in concentration (Thiele & Gill 1999). A survey conducted in 1996 found that Antarctic Minke Whales are unevenly distributed in the Australian Antarctic Territories. They were found more frequently west of 120° E where they were concentrated south of, and at, the Southern Boundary of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (Thiele et al. 2000). Between 120° E and 150° E Antarctic Minke Whales were almost exclusively sighted in a thin band of colder Antarctic Coastal Current water near the ice edge (Thiele et al. 2000). This uneven distribution was ascribed to a southward intrusion of warmer water east of 100° E during the survey period, leading to a reduction in the abundance of krill in these areas and consequently to lower Antarctic Minke Whale abundance (Thiele et al. 2000). || What it eats How it eats || Minke whales (like all baleen whales) are seasonal feeders and carnivores. They sieve through the ocean water with their baleen. They filters out small polar [|plankton], [|krill], and small fish, even chasing schools of sardines, anchovies, cod, herring, and capelin. They have the same diet as blue whales. Minke whales (like all baleen whales) are seasonal feeders and carnivores. They sieve through the ocean water with their baleen. They filter out small plankton, krill and small fish, even chasing schools of sardines, anchovies, cod, herring, and capelin. They have the same diet as blue whale (largest member of the baleen whales). The baleen plates in the minke whale's jaws have about 300 pairs of short, smooth baleen plates. The largest plates are about less than 30 cm long and 13 cm wide. The fine textured baleen bristles are fringed and are creamy-white with pure white bristles
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 * **__Feeding Habits:__**

Minke whales feed primarily on krill in the southern hemisphere and on small schooling fish (capelin, cod, herring, pollock) or krill in the northern hemisphere. They will also eat copepods in certain areas. || How does it have babies? How does it care for its babies? How long do they live? || Sexual maturity is reached at 7 or 8 years in the northern hemisphere. Breeding peaks in summer months. The gestation period is 10-11 months and calving is thought to occur once every two years on average. Calves are 3 m (10 feet) at brith and weigh 450 kg (1000 pounds). Minke calves nurse for approximately 3 months.
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 * **__Breeding Habits:__**

What does it do during the day and night? || No daily patterns of movement have been described for Antarctic Minke Whales, but this species does undergoe extensive migration between the summer Antarctic feeding grounds and winter sub-tropical to tropical breeding grounds. Antarctic Minke Whales have been reported up to 350 km south of the ice edge during winter, suggesting that some portions of the population may over-winter in higher latitudes (Perrin & Brownell 2002; Thiele & Gill 1999). Analysis of whaling data indicates that most of the male Antarctic Minke Whales present in the higher latitude Antarctic whaling grounds are mature males, whereas the mature females do not arrive until later in the season, suggesting that sexual segregation occurs in these areas (Kato 1982; Kasamatsu & Ohsumi 1981; Masaki 1979; Ohsumi et al. 1970). Similar sexual segregation has been identified in the breeding grounds of lower latitudes, where sexually immature Antarctic Minke Whales comprised the larger proportion of the catch off Durban, South Africa, during the early part of the season (April and May) (Best 1982). From June, a large proportion of the Antarctic Minke Whale catch consisted of mature males, while the proportion of immature males rapidly declined. Although mature females also began to form a large proportion of the catch, particularly from July onwards, males outnumbered females two to one, until September when greater parity was reached (1.38 to 1, respectively) (Best 1982). These data, plus those from Brazil (Williamson 1975), suggest that there is segregation by sexes during the winter migration and, for males at least, there may also be segregation by size (Best 1982).
 * Life span:** 30 - 50 years
 * Sexual maturity:** 6 years males / 7 years females
 * Gestation:** 10 months
 * Birth length:** 2.4-2.8m (8-9ft)
 * Birth weight:** 400kg (882lbs) ||
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 * **__Activity:__**

The winter distribution of Antarctic Minke Whales on the low latitudinal breeding grounds is predominately composed of solitary individuals. They then appear to form groups of up to about five individuals in spring, returning to swimming singly again in November prior to their south-bound migration (Best 1982; Williamson 1975). In the Antarctic, the group size of Antarctic Mike Whales appears to increase with whale density (Horwood 1981; Ohsumi et al. 1970). However, there appears to be some variation in distribution of the larger groups as only single animals were predominantly seen (66.7% of all groups seen) between 40° S and 50° S, dropping to 26.4% of sightings between 50° S and 60° S when pairs of whales were predominantly seen (Ohsumi et al. 1970). Although Ohsumi and colleagues (1970) never saw schools larger than six individuals south of 40° S, Best & Butterworth (1980) recorded a maximum school size of 60 Antarctic Minke Whales in IWC Area IV south of 60° S, The average group size in this area was 2.41 animals, with single individuals most commonly seen. || How has it changed over time in Antarctica? || Minkes tend to be solitary animals, though sometimes they are seen traveling in pairs or in small groups of 4 to 6. In the polar regions, where food is concentrated, it is common to find larger aggregations of feeding animals in an area. They appear to segregate by age and sex more than do the other baleen whales. Females remain close to shore, while males are farther out to sea. Some minkes migrate long distances, but others may move only within a restricted area. In some regions, minkes may be found year-round. Their life span is believed to be about 50 years. Killer whales are known to prey on minkes, especially in parts of the southern hemisphere. The taxonomy of minke whales is currently in question, and soon there may be three species of minke whales: the Antarctic minke whale (relatively large and lacking a flipper stripe), the dwarf minke (smaller than Antarctic, has a flipper stripe, lives in tropical southern hemisphere waters), and the true minke whale (flipper stripe present, lives in the northern hemisphere). ||
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 * **Adaptations:**
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 * **Threats:** || Only in recent decades have minke whales been taken by whalers to any extent; they were thought to be too small to be a worthwhile catch. But as the larger whale species became depleted, the whalers began to hunt the minke as a replacement. Since the late 1960s and 1970s, Japan, Russia (which has now ceased whaling), and (to some extent) Norway have focused their whaling efforts on minke whales. Scientists are still examining the populations of minke whales in areas where they are harvested, and have discovered that the largest numbers of minkes are found in the southern hemisphere. It is thought that minke populations have increased as they started to eat the food that was previously eaten by the now-depleted large whale species. The present population worldwide is believed to be over a millions animals. ||
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 * **Other Facts:** || **Minke Whales Statistics**
 * Maximum length:** 10.7m (35ft) males / 9.8m (32ft) females
 * Adult weight:** 15 tonnes
 * Life span:** 30 - 50 years
 * Sexual maturity:** 6 years males / 7 years females
 * Gestation:** 10 months
 * Birth length:** 2.4-2.8m (8-9ft)
 * Birth weight:** 400kg (882lbs)
 * Dive duration:** 20 mins
 * Distribution:** poles to tropics, three distinct populations, north pacific, north atlantic and southern ocean
 * Current world** 500 000 / pre-whaling - 200 000

Minke whales are generally solitary animals or they are seen in pairs or threes. Larger groups are sometimes found in high latitudes in both hemispheres and groups may number 10 to 15 individuals. Minkes often approach boats, especially when stationary, and are notoriously inquisitive, as such they are more likely to be seen closely than other rorquals. || Type in the content of your page here.
 * Like other rorquals, minkes migrate to tropical or warm temperate waters in the winter months and spend the summer months at higher latitudes in polar waters** where the long day length leads to algal blooms in the sea and associated increases in plankton and fish stocks means good a feeding time.
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