Antarctic minke whale Balaenoptera bonaerensis

The Antarctic minke whale Balaenoptera bonaerensis is found throughout Antarctica during summer [1,2]. During winter, Antarctic minke whales are found north to within seven degrees of the equator and south as far as the 35th parallel; they have also been sighted in Antarctica as well [1,2,4,5]. The Antarctic minke whale is usually sighted near the ice edge, either singly or in pairs [1]. The Antarctic minke whale ranges in length up to ten meters with an average length of eight meters; it is the smallest baleen whale in the Southern Ocean [1].


The Antarctic minke whale is dark grey on its back and white on its belly and beneath its flippers [1]. Most Antarctic minke whales have a white diagonal band on each flipper and there may be a pale chevron on its back behind the head or pale gray bracket marks above each flipper [1].


When the Antarctic minke whale surfaces, its dorsal fin appears simultaneously with the blow [1]. The mist of the blow lingers above the whale in this photo.


The blow of the Antarctic minke whale is small and low [1].

It breathes five to eight blows at intervals of less than one minute, and then dives up to twenty minutes [1].


Spyhopping Antarctic minke whale, with Mount Erebus on Ross Island in the background.

The Antarctic minke whale feeds primarily on the Antarctic krill Euphausia superba and also on the euphausiid Thysanoessa spp. [1,3].


This book jacket illustrates harpoon gun whaling in the Southern Ocean.

Whaling in the Southern Ocean harvested some two million whales in the first half of the 20th century, with 28,000 blue whales killed in the 1930-1931 season alone [6].

Though whales in the Southern Ocean are now protected by the 1994 International Whaling Commission agreement for a Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary, scientific research whaling continues under IWC rules, with Japan taking over 400 minke whales in the Southern Ocean each year in recent years [6,7]

Taxonomic Note: Bone features, genetic analysis, and external features confirm that the Antarctic minke whale is a separate species [2].

1: FAO Species Identification Sheets for Fishery Purposes : Southern Ocean (Fishing Areas 48, 58 and 88) (CCAMLR Convention Area) / W Fischer & JC Hureau, eds. Rome : Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 1985; 2: Marine Mammals of the World : Systematics and Distribution. DW Rice. Lawrence, Kansas : Society for Marine Mammalogy, 1998; 3: Polar Biology 11(7):479-487, 1991; 4: Instituto Antartico Chileno. Serie Cientifica 44:91-98, 1994 ; 5: International Whaling Commission Report 39:219-225, 1989; 6: Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises. M Carwardine, ed. New York : Checkmark Books, 1999; 7: Whaling. Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society. http://www.wdcs.org

Text ©Peter Brueggeman. Photographs ©Peter Brueggeman & Norbert Wu. Photographs may not be used in any form without the express written permission of Peter Brueggeman & Norbert Wu. Norbert Wu no longer grants permission for uncompensated use of his photos under any circumstances whatsoever; want more info?