Minke Whale Balaenoptera acutorostrata and B. bonaerensis

Threats and conservation status

Natural Predators

Killer whales are the only known natural predator of minke whales. In fact, minke whales may form a major component of the diet of some forms of killer whales in the Antarctic². 

Human induced threats

Like most species of whales and dolphins, minke whales can become entangled in fishing gear^6,7.  Minke whale bycatch appears to be particularly high off the coasts of Japan and Korea³. Another potential threat is the  bioaccumulation of contaminants like organochlorines and DDT in minke whale blubber.^8-10 

Conservation status

Considered too small and too fast to be worth hunting, minke whales were overlooked by most whalers throughout the 19^th and 20^th centuries, and only became the focus of intensive whaling efforts when most other species were severely depleted and difficult to locate. As such, most minke whale populations were less severely affected by whaling than other species².  Today however, they are one of the few species of whale to still be hunted in significant numbers in countries that have lodged objections to the current IWC moratorium on whaling, such as Iceland and Norway, and by the Japanese who conduct scientific whaling programmes in the Antarctic and North Pacific.

Common minke whales are difficult to assess globally due their diffuse distribution.  However, they are designated as Least Concern under the IUCN Red List for threatened species, due primarily to the fact that they were less depleted by commercial whaling than other baleen whale species.   Some populations are subject to annual hunts which are deemed to be sustainable by the countries that implement the hunts (Iceland, Norway, and Japan).The eastern North Atlantic as well as the eastern north Pacific subspecies are included in Appendix II of CMS. 

Antarctic minke whales are considered Data Deficient under the IUCN Redlist.  Currently  they appear to number over 500,000^3,15.  Analyses revealed that their numbers increased from 1930 until the mid-1970s, declined over the period from the mid-1970s until about 1988, and then remained more or less stable over the past 20 years^{11 6}. In other words, the abundance estimated during the 1991/92 – 2003/04 southern hemisphere summer seasons was about 30% lower than that estimated during the 1985/86-1990/91 southern summer seasons^15,3  . The reasons for this have not fully been explained.  Antarctic minke whales are listed under Appendix II on the convention on  Migratory Species (CMS).