Common minke whale
Balaenoptera acutorostrata Lacépède, 1804
LCLeast Concernwhales and dolphins
The common minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) is a mammal in the whales and dolphins group, belonging to the suborder Mysticeti and the family Balaenopteridae. It is a giant marine, diurnal animal with an adult body mass of 10 tonnes, and its diet category is invertivore.
Quick facts about the common minke whale
Gestation lasts 306.6 days, females have 1 young per litter and 1 litter per year, and sexual maturity is reached at 7.5 years. Its lifespan is given as 48.5 years, up to 50 years, and it is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.
- Weight
- 7.5 t – 10 tsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 48.5 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Invertivoresrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 50 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Gestation
- 304 days – 335 dayssrc for Gestation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 1src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 23.9 months – 7.5 yearssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1src for Litters or clutches a year
- Active
- By day (diurnal)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Marinesrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Photos of the common minke whale
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Where does the common minke whale live?
Not recorded
What is 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).
From the Wikipedia article “Common minke whale” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Common_minke_whale&oldid=1382858004), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
What does the common minke whale sound like?
Is the common minke whale endangered?
The common minke whale is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species. What the categories mean.
How is the common minke whale classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderCetacea
- familyBalaenopteridae
- genusBalaenoptera
- SpeciesBalaenoptera acutorostrata Lacépède, 1804
Synonyms Agaphelus gibbosus, Agaphelus gibbosus, Balaena gibbosa, Balaena microcephala, Balaena minima, Balaena minima borealis, Balaena rostrata, Balaenoptera acutorostrata thalmaha, Balaenoptera acuturostrata, Balaenoptera eschrichtius, Balaenoptera microcephala, Balaenoptera rostrata, Balaenoptera rostrata, Balaenoptera thalmaha, Balaenoptera thalmaha thalmaha, Pterobalaena minor, Pterobalaena minor bergensis, Pterobalaena minor groenlandica, Pterobalaena nana, Pterobalaena nana pentadactyla, Pterobalaena nana tetradactyla, Pterobalaena pentadactyla, Rorqualus minor, Sibbaldius mondinii
Other names and names in other languages (139)
- BagwhaleEnglish
- Bay whaleEnglish
- Beaked rorqualEnglish
- Davidson's whaleEnglish
- Dwarf minke whaleEnglish
- Dwarf minke whaleEnglish
- Least rorqualEnglish
- Lesser finbackEnglish
- Lesser piked whaleEnglish
- Lesser rorqualEnglish
- Lesser rorqualEnglish
- Little finnerEnglish
- Little piked whaleEnglish
- Little piked whaleEnglish
- Minke whaleEnglish
- Minke whaleEnglish
- Minke whaleEnglish
- Minkie's whaleEnglish
- Northern minke whaleEnglish
- Northern minke whaleEnglish
- Pikehead whaleEnglish
- Rorqual aliblancoEnglish
- Sharp-headed finner whaleEnglish
- Summer whaleEnglish
- MinkewalvisAfrikaans
- minke-walvisAfrikaans
- agamakhchikAleut
- حوت المنك المألوفArabic
- BalhenatuAsturian
- ballenatuAsturian
- rorqual d'aleta blancaCatalan
- kauchikan uiiutckt
- plejtvák stikovitýCzech
- plejtvák malýCzech
- morfil minkeWelsh
- morfil pigfainWelsh
- Morfilod PigfainWelsh
- vågehvalDanish
- lille RorhvalDanish
- sildepiskerDanish
- MinkwalGerman
- (nördlicher) ZwergwalGerman
- MinkewalGerman
- Nördlicher ZwergwalGerman
- Spitzkopf-FinnfischGerman
- ZwergfurchenwalGerman
- ZwergwalGerman
- ΡυγχοφάλαιναGreek
- Βόρεια ρυγχοφάλαιναGreek
- Rocual enanoSpanish
- Ballena de Minke ComúnSpanish
- ballena enanaSpanish
- Ballena menorSpanish
- ballena minkeSpanish
- Ballena minke enanaSpanish
- rorcual aliblancoSpanish
- Rorcual de aletas blancasSpanish
- rorcual de MinkeSpanish
- rorcual enanoSpanish
- rorcual menorSpanish
- rorcual picudoSpanish
- rorqual de aleta blancaSpanish
- rorqual pequeñoSpanish
- Zere txikiaBasque
- LahtivalasFinnish
- baleine d'étéFrench
- Baleinoptère à museau pointuFrench
- balenoptere a bec aiguFrench
- petit rorqualFrench
- rorqual à museau pointuFrench
- rorqual à rostreFrench
- rorqual mineurFrench
- mucan-mioncaidhScottish Gaelic
- muc-mhioncaidh (no muc-mhara-mhionc)Scottish Gaelic
- Rorcual alibrancoGalician
- לויתן גוץHebrew
- לווייתן מינקיHebrew
- לוויתן כחול גמדיHebrew
- csukabálnaHungarian
- hrefnaIcelandic
- HrafnhvalurIcelandic
- HrafnreyðurIcelandic
- hrafureydurIcelandic
- LéttirIcelandic
- balenottera minoreItalian
- Balenottera minore settentrionaleItalian
- balenottera rostrataItalian
- minkuJapanese
- コイワシクジラJapanese
- ミンククジラJapanese
- ミンククジラ／コイワシクジラJapanese
- 小鰯鯨Japanese
- koiwashi kujiraJapanese
- kupokaruJapanese
- chikagulikKalaallisut
- TikaagullikKalaallisut
- 밍크고래Korean
- 쇠정어리고래Korean
- mingkeu-goraeKorean
- mažasis ruožuotisLithuanian
- trozona maran-dohaMalagasy
- PakakaMāori
- PakakeMāori
- dwergvinvisDutch
- dwergfinvischDutch
- Gewone DwergvinvisDutch
- vågekvalNorwegian Nynorsk
- minkehvalNorwegian
- minkies hvalNorwegian
- rebbehvalNorwegian
- vaage-QvalNorwegian
- vaagehvalNorwegian
- płetwal karłowatyPolish
- baleia minkePortuguese
- Baleia-anãPortuguese
- baleia-minke-anaPortuguese
- Baleia-minke-anãPortuguese
- minkeRussian
- малый полосатикRussian
- или остроголовый полосатикRussian
- karlikovyi polosatikRussian
- malyi polosatikaRussian
- ostrogolovyi polosatikRussian
- ostromordyi polosatikRussian
- zalivovRussian
- vuotnabossuNorthern Sami
- ščukarSlovenian
- pritlikavi kitSlovenian
- Ščukasti kitSlovenian
- vikvalSwedish
- spetsnäbbad finnfiskSwedish
- vikarehvalSwedish
- vinkvalSwedish
- plawan klaebkhribkhaodamThai
- Minke balinasıTurkish
- bayağı minke balinasıTurkish
- Смугач малийUkrainian
- 小须鲸Chinese
- 小鬚鯨Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the common minke whale
Other species in the same genus Balaenoptera.
Blue whale
Balaenoptera musculus
Fin whale
Balaenoptera physalus
Sei whale
Balaenoptera borealis
Bryde's whale
Balaenoptera omurai
Antarctic minke whale
Balaenoptera bonaerensis
Rice's whale
Balaenoptera ricei
CompareCommon minke whale vs Blue whaleCommon minke whale vs Fin whaleCommon minke whale vs Sei whaleCommon minke whale vs Bryde's whale
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
How heavy is the common minke whale?
The common minke whale has an adult body mass of 10 tonnes, placing it in the giant size class.
What does the common minke whale eat?
The common minke whale is an invertivore, and its trophic level is carnivore.
Is the common minke whale endangered?
No. It is listed as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.
How long does the common minke whale live?
Its lifespan is given as 48.5 years, with values up to 50 years reported.
How long is the common minke whale's gestation period?
Gestation lasts 306.6 days, with reported values from 304.4 to 334.8 days.
How many young does the common minke whale have?
It has 1 young per litter and 1 litter per year.
What kind of animal is the common minke whale?
It is a mammal in the whales and dolphins group, in the order Cetacea, suborder Mysticeti and family Balaenopteridae.
Who named the common minke whale?
The scientific name Balaenoptera acutorostrata was given by Lacépède, 1804.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Common minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-minke-whale
“Common minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-minke-whale.
@misc{common_minke_whale_2026,
title = {Common minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-minke-whale},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}