Antarctic minke whale

What do Antarctic minke whales look like?

Graceful and nimble, Antarctic minke whales are perfectly suited to their environment. Their streamlined bodies enable them to glide through the water with ease and they use their long flippers to twist and turn. With two blowholes on top of their pointy heads, their chins are etched with deep grooves from their throats to their chests. Their skin is a shade of black or dark brown, and they have lovely pale bellies. Unlike common minke whales who have white markings on their flippers, Antarctic minke whales are unbanded. As far as whales go, they are actually pretty small too. With blue whales also among the rorqual family (the largest animal in the world), Antarctic minkes are dwarfed in comparison – generally no more than 10 metres long and weighing around 9 tonnes.

What’s life like for an Antarctic minke whale?

Antarctic minke whales are happy in their own company and tend to spend most of their time on their own or in very small groups of maybe two or three. That said, at certain times of the year large groups have been known to come together to socialise and feed, with as many as 60 whales turning up to join in.

Despite a greater understanding of whales’ rights, Antarctic minke whales have faced a number of serious risks, including ugly encounters with whalers’ harpoons. Flying in the face of global opinion and an International Court of Justice ruling, Japan has killed hundreds of these enigmatic creatures every year.  Japan has recently declared it will leave the International Whaling Commission, re-starting commercial whaling in its own waters.  The only ‘silver lining in this news is that, at least Japan’s whalers will desist from hunting Antarctic minke whales.

What do Antarctic minke whales eat?

An Antarctic minke whale’s favourite food is krill. They are baleen whales, which means they don’t have teeth but filter their food through baleen plates in their upper jaw. Baleen is made from keratin, the same stuff that our hair and fingernails are made of, and it acts like a strainer.

Minke whales feed by gulping large amounts of water, but like us, can’t drink saltwater.  So, the krill and fish are caught by bristles on the baleen and swallowed, while the seawater washes through and goes back into the ocean.

Where do Antarctic minke whales live?

As their name suggests, Antarctic minke whales live mainly in Antarctica! Some migrate northwards in winter months to find warmer seas, while others stay put all year round. Sometimes, groups be seen gathering amongst the pack ice breaking breathing holes with their pointed beaks.

From November through to January, large numbers of minke whales can be found in Antarctica. After that, it’s a mystery. It seems as if they disperse after winter, but no one really knows where they go. What we do know, is that they prefer the open ocean, and some have been spotted as far as Australia and Brazil.