Hybrids between common and Antarctic minke whales are fertile and can back-cross

Migration of Antarctic Minke Whales to the Arctic

The Antarctic minke whale (Balaenoptera bonaerensis), and the common minke whale found in the North Atlantic (Balaenoptera acutorostrata acutorostrata), undertake synchronized seasonal migrations to feeding areas at their respective poles during spring, and to the tropics in the autumn where they overwinter. Differences in the timing of seasons between hemispheres prevent these species from mix...

Minke Whales

Are Antarctic minke whales unusually abundant because of 20th century whaling?

Severe declines in megafauna worldwide illuminate the role of top predators in ecosystem structure. In the Antarctic, the Krill Surplus Hypothesis posits that the killing of more than 2 million large whales led to competitive release for smaller krill-eating species like the Antarctic minke whale. If true, the current size of the Antarctic minke whale population may be unusually high as an indi...

Spatial and temporal variation in organochlorine contaminants in the Antarctic minke whales, Balaenoptera bonaerensis

To evaluate environmental changes in the Antarctic Ocean, concentrations of organochlorines (PCBs, DDTs, HCHs, HCB and CHLs) were determined in the blubber of the mature males of Antarctic minke whales, Balaenoptera bonaerensis, (from 21 to 25 years) from the Antarctic Areas IV and V. The ranges of concentrations for each compound were, in ng/g fat wt: PCBs, 7.7-89; DDTs, 29-340; HCHs, 0.20-4.3...

Yearly trend in the proportion of pregnant animals among mature female Antarctic minke whales in the JARPA and JARPAII period

This paper is a revised version of SC/F14/J9 presented to the JARPAII Review Workshop. The discussion of the paper was modified to take into consideration some recommendations from the Review Workshop. The proportion of pregnant animals among mature females (PPF) in Antarctic minke whales was examined from samples collected during 1987/88-2004/05 JARPA and 2005/06-2010/11 JARPAII surveys. Analy...