Bride's minke whale: description, nutrition, habitat and reproduction

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:55

Bride's minke whale is a predator that eats a large number of fish living in schools. This cosmopolitan inhabits the oceans, usually only in temperate and tropical latitudes. This mammal, among all other minke whales, is considered thermophilic and therefore lives in the warm zone of the oceans. You can meet him in the waters of Western Australia, South Africa, Indonesia, Japan and other places.

Description of minke whale

In appearance, Bryde's minke whale is somewhat similar to sei whales, but it is about one and a half meters smaller than them, and its body is more slender. Such tropical whales have a mass of 10 to 19 tons. There are three small growths on the head of the minke whale. All of them are arranged so that their ends converge at the tip of the muzzle.

It is known that Bryde's minke whale has an elongated body. But the fins that are located on it are very small. The body length of such a mammal can reach up to14 meters, but only females are always smaller. On the back of the body of males, you can see the scars that remain after fighting with a shark.

Bride's minke whale has a wide head. Especially her large eyes stand out. And at the top of it are the nostrils. Such a mammal does not have teeth, instead of them there are two rows of whalebone plates. They are wide but not stretchy. On the lower jaw, Bride has two rows of coarse hairs. The fins on the back are located behind. Bryde's minke whale is a predatory whale that has a gray body color, although its upper part is a dirty blue hue.

Minke whale habitat

It is known that such whales prefer to live in open water, the temperature of which does not exceed twenty degrees. In order to feed, they often go to shallow water. Mammals live either in small families or in pairs. Sometimes up to thirty whales can gather at the feeding site.

Bride's minke whale has become famous for its strange behavior: suddenly it can either jump out onto the water surface or change direction.

Before descending into the water, the minke whale takes a few breaths. Under water, he does not linger for more than 12 minutes, although without air he can do longer, for example, twenty minutes. Such mammals usually dive to a depth of 300 meters. The height of the fountains they release can reach up to four meters, although the trickle is thin. Usually they swim at a speed of about seven kilometers per hour, but it can reach up to 20 kilometers per hour.

It is known that minke whales regularly migrate, as they spend the winter near the Bonin Islands. But in the summer they like to live either in Kyu-Syu or in Sanriku. Most often they can be found where predatory fish, such as sharks, spend their hunt.

Brides make short sounds. Remotely, they are somewhat similar to the moans of a person.

People are considered the main enemies of such a mammal as Bride's minke whale. The rump whale lives up to 70 years if it is not hunted. Today, the number of this species ranges from 50 to 90 individuals. Man began to hunt them in the sixties. But still, minke whales suffer most from hagfish and crustaceans: they make deep wounds on the body of the whale, which then begin to fester. Most often, the depth of such wounds is four centimeters, but can reach ten centimeters. Minke whales also die when they collide with ships or when they fall into fishing nets.

Feeding minke whales

Many people are interested in questions about what Bride's minke whale is and what it eats. The diet of minke whales depends on where they live. They hunt not only far from the coast, but also in shallow water. They can even feed on penguins.

The diet of these whales is varied. So, it includes crabs and copepods, lobsters and krill. Minke whales also like to eat cephalopods such as squid and cuttlefish. If they forage close to the coast, they may accidentally throw themselves onto land, and then they will need help to return towater element. There are cases when Brides attacked sharks, the length of which reached a meter.

Bride Breeding

Mating season for minke whales lasts throughout the year. Pregnancy in females also lasts a whole year. It is known that the female gives birth to one baby every three years. The weight of a newborn whale can be slightly less than a ton, and the length is approximately four meters. The female feeds the baby with her fat milk for six months.

Puberty in males occurs at the age of five years, when their body length reaches 12 meters.