The Smallest One

Minke whales are the smallest kind of whales in the baleen family! They are the tiniest species in the group called "the great whales" or also known as Rorquals. They are usually 18 feet long. Minke whales are also in the Mysticeti family. The Mysticeti family originates from the Infraorder: Cetacea. It comes from the name of the animal cetacean. Living cetaceans are placed into two groups, the Odontoceti, (toothed whales), and Mysticeti, (baleen whales, which are whales with no teeth). 

Reproduction

Minke whales reproduce from January to May. Their young, called calves, are then born somewhere near or in December. They are weaned at four to six months, so they will not rely on their mother for milk.  It is the youngest weaning known in the family of baleen whales. 

A mother will care for her calf for two years, while the father will not help. Calves are born eight to 11.5  feet long, and weighs 700 to 1000 pounds at birth!  A female will wait ten to eleven months to get a calf. 

Diet and mouth

Minke whales usually will eat krill and schooling fish. They can also eat sandeels, plankton, herring, sprat, and capelin. They have large mouth in which they can open up to catch some of their prey. They have flexible plats with some frayed edges, which is made with a material similar to horns, lining their upper jaw. This is used as the same purpose as teeth. They have two-hundred to three-hundred plates. They have a massive mouth, which when they open, can catch much fish, but takes water along with it too. 

Habitat

Minke whales usually live near land. They will sometimes enter bays and estuaries, which is only a partially enclosed salty body of water. Estuaries is a body of water which leads directly to the ocean. 

The journey

Minke whales, like other whales, will travel to warm and tropical waters in the winter, and in summer, will travel to colder waters. When doing this journey, minke whales may travel in groups of three, though they are usually solitude animals, meaning they are lone. In higher latitudes, minke whales can travel in larger numbers. They can journey in pairs. It is unknown how many leagues minke whales journey every year. The largest group sighting was 60 minke whales!

Weight and size

Minke whales can weigh up to 20,000 pounds! They can grow up to 10.6 meters long. Dwarf minke whales, on the other hand, can weigh 14,000 pounds, and are 8 meters long. This may seem large, but this species is still the smallest in the Rorqual, or "great whale" family. 

Breathing

Minke whales are placed in the class: mammalia, or mammals, because they drink their mothers milk. Being mammals means that they sadly cannot breath underwater. Every 15 minutes, Minke whales will surface to get air. They have a blow hole in which they can breath air without taking their whole body to the surface. They do not have lungs where we have them, instead they use their blow hole. 

Lifespan

Minke whales can live up to 50 years if they are treated well. Minke whales are slowly becoming endangered because of they many hunts places are bringing on them. The most endangered sea animal, Vaquita's, are almost extinct because they got caught in nets instead of fish! Many minke whales have had their life shortened. 

The difference in female journeys and male journeys

Age, sex, and maturity are the factors which say where a minke whale will go to in a journey. Such as, an older male minke whale will travel to polar water, where he will then create a group of two or three.  Mature females will travel along coastlines. They also migrate to colder waters. Young minke whales will journey to warmer waters. Some minke whales will swim large distances, while others will take a small group and not swim far. Scientists do not yet understand why.