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BC Conservation Data Centre: Species Summary


Balaenoptera acutorostrata
Common Minke Whale

 
Scientific Name: Balaenoptera acutorostrata Lacepède, 1804
English Name: Common Minke Whale
 
Classification / Taxonomy
Scientific Name - Concept Reference: Wilson, D. E., and D. M. Reeder (editors). 2005. Mammal species of the world: a taxonomic and geographic reference. Third edition. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore. Two volumes. 2,142 pp. [As modified by ASM the Mammal Diversity Database (MDD) at https://www.mammaldiversity.org/index.html]
Classification Level: Species
Species Group: Vertebrate Animal
Species Code: M-BAAC
Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family
Animalia Craniata Mammalia Cetacea Balaenopteridae
   
Conservation Status / Legal Designation
Global Status: G5 (Apr 2016)
Provincial Status: S4?N (Mar 2022)
BC List: Yellow
Provincial FRPA list:   
Provincial Wildlife Act:
COSEWIC Status: Not at Risk (Apr 2006)
COSEWIC Comments: Scammonii Subspecies
SARA Schedule:
General Status Canada:
   
Ecology & Life History
General Description:
Global Reproduction Comments: Gestation lasts 10-11 months. Single calf is born November-March in North Atlantic, mainly late May and early June in Southern Hemisphere. Young are weaned in 6 months or less. Adult females produce one calf every 1-2 years. Most sources give the age of sexual maturity as 6-7 years or 7-8 years, but 2 years or mean of 6-15 years also has been reported; age of maturity apparently decreases when populations are significantly reduced. Maximum age is about 30-40 years in the North Atlantic, something less than 50 years in the Southern Hemisphere.
Global Ecology Comments: Usually solitary, sometimes found in groups of 2-3. Annual survival rate in Antarctic exceeds 90% (IUCN 1991). Common prey for orca (killer whale).
Migration Characteristics:
(Global / Provincial)		 
    Nonmigrant:
    Local Migrant:
    Distant Migrant:
    Within Borders Migrant: 		Y /
Y /
Y /
na /
Global Migration Comments: Many populations migrate to high latitude waters for summer, to low latitude waters for winter.
Habitats:
(Type / Subtype / Dependence) 		Ocean / Pelagic / Facultative - frequent use
Ocean / Sheltered Waters - Marine / Facultative - frequent use
Global Habitat Comments: Coastal and pelagic waters.
Provincial Habitat Comments: Marine
Food Habits: Invertivore: Adult, Immature
Piscivore: Adult, Immature
Global Food Habits Comments: Diet mostly fishes in North Pacific, krill in southern ocean, fishes (mainly) and krill in North Atlantic (IUCN 1991); fishes eaten are small, schooling species.
Global Phenology: Circadian: Adult, Immature
Global Phenology Comments: Active day/night.
Provincial Phenology:
(1st half of month/
2nd half of month)
Colonial Breeder: N
Length(cm)/width(cm)/Weight(g): 9100/ /
Elevation (m) (min / max): Global: 
Provincial: 
   
 
Distribution
Endemic: N
Global Range Comment: Throughout the world's oceans in tropical, temperate, and polar waters, including Hudson Bay (Can. Field-Nat. 106:266-267). See IUCN (1991) for further details. IWC stock management units have little or no biological significance (IUCN 1991). Occasional strandings in Gulf of Mexico but not live sightings (ASM 2025, Jefferson and Schiro 1997).
 
Authors / Contributors
Global Information Author: Hammerson, G.
Last Updated: May 11, 1994
Provincial Information Author:
Last Updated:
   
References and Related Literature
Banfield, A. W. F. 1974. The mammals of Canada. University of Toronto Press, Toronto, Canada. 438 pp.
Folkens, P. 1984. The whale watcher's handbook. Doubleday Co., Inc., Garden City, NY 208 pp.
Godin, A. J. 1977. Wild mammals of New England. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore. 304 pp.
Hall, E. R. 1981a. The Mammals of North America, second edition. Vols. I & II. John Wiley & Sons, New York, New York. 1181 pp.
IUCN (World Conservation Union). 1991. Dolphins, Porpoises and Whales of the World: the IUCN Red Data Book. M. Klinowska (compiler). IUCN, Gland, Switzerland, and Cambridge, United Kingdom. viii + 429 pp.
Jones, J. K., Jr., R. S. Hoffman, D. W. Rice, C. Jones, R. J. Baker, and M. D. Engstrom. 1992a. Revised checklist of North American mammals north of Mexico, 1991. Occasional Papers, The Museum, Texas Tech University, 146:1-23.
Katona, S. K., V. Rough, and D. T. Richardson. 1983. A Field guide to the whales, porpoises, and seals of the gulf of Maine and eastern Canada. Cape Cod to Newfoundland. Charles Scribner's Sons, N.Y. 255 pp.
Leatherwood, S., and R. R. Reeves. 1983. The Sierra Club handbook of whales and dolphins. Sierra Club Books, San Francisco. 302 pp.
National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). 1987. Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972. Annual Report 1986/87.
Ridgway, S. H., and R. J. Harrison. 1985. Handbook of marine mammals. Vol. 3. The sirenians and baleen whales. Academic Press, New York. 362 pp.
Wada, S., and K. Numachi. 1991. Allozyme analyses of genetic differentiation among populations and species of Balaenoptera. Pages 125-154 in A. R. Hoelzel, editor. Genetic ecology of whales and dolphins. Reports of the International Whaling Commission, Special Issue 13:1-311.
Wilson, D. E., and D. M. Reeder (editors). 1993. Mammal species of the world: a taxonomic and geographic reference. Second edition. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC. xviii + 1206 pp. Available online at: http://www.nmnh.si.edu/msw/.
 

Please visit the website Conservation Status Ranks for definitions of the data fields used in this summary report.

Suggested Citation:

B.C. Conservation Data Centre. 1994. Species Summary: Balaenoptera acutorostrata. B.C. Minist. of Environment. Available: https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/ (accessed Jun 7, 2026).