Common minke whale: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the common minke whale lives – recorded in 16 countries, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Balaenoptera acutorostrata
Group	Whales & dolphins
Status	Least concern (Wikidata, IUCN category label)
Found in	16 countries
Continents	Antarctica, Asia, Europe, North America, Oceania
Class	Mammal
Order	Artiodactyla
Family	Balaenopteridae

Where does the common minke whale live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the common minke whale in 16 countries and territories across Antarctica, Asia, Europe, North America and Oceania.

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

Is the common minke whale endangered?

The common minke whale’s conservation status recorded in Wikidata is “Least concern” (an IUCN Red List category label). Source: Wikidata.

What kind of animal is the common minke whale?

The common minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) is a mammal in the order Artiodactyla and the family Balaenopteridae, genus Balaenoptera. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the common minke whale

The common minke whale or northern minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) is a species of minke whale within the suborder of baleen whales.

It is the smallest species of the rorquals and the second smallest species of baleen whale. Although first ignored by whalers due to its small size and low oil yield, it began to be exploited by various countries beginning in the early 20th century. As other species declined, larger numbers of common minke whales were caught, largely for their meat. It is now one of the primary targets of the whaling industry. There is a dwarf form in the Southern Hemisphere.

This species is known in the fossil record from the Pliocene epoch to the Quaternary period (age range: 4.7 million years ago to present day).

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Common minke whale (revision 1372835871), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q201808 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).