Japan to hunt Minke Whale in North Pacific

Minke whale

The minke whale is the second smallest of the baleen whales - only the pygmy right whale is smaller. Common minke whales (northern hemisphere variety) are distinguished from other whales by a white band on each flipper. The body is usually black or dark-grey above and white underneath. Most of the length of the back, including dorsal fin and blowholes, appears at once when the whale surfaces to breathe. The whale then breathes 3-5 times at short intervals before 'deep-diving' for 2-20 minutes. Deep dives are preceded by a pronounced arching of the back.

Upon reaching sexual maturity (6-8 years of age), male and female minke whales measure an average of 7 - 7.5 metres in length, respectively. Estimates of maximum length vary from 9.1 m to 10.7 m for females and 8.8 m to 9.8 m for males. Both sexes typically weigh 4-5 tons at maturity, and the maximum weight may be as much as 14 tonnes. The gestation period for minke whales is 10 months and babies measure 2.4 to 2.8 metres ( at birth. The newborns nurse for five months.

The total population of Minke Whales is estimated to be in the order of 184,000 in the Central and North East Atlantic. As of 2005, there were no agreed estimates for North Pacific or Southern Hemisphere. In the early 1990s the IWC Scientific Committee, after analysing the available data, agreed that Minkes in the Southern Hemisphere numbered 760,000, which the Japanese whaling industry uses as the current (2005) estimate.