MINKE WHALE (Balaenoptera acutorostrata): Canadian East Coast Stock

• Main Authors: Stock Definition, Geographic Range
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2003
• Subjects: Greenland; Balaenoptera acutorostrata; Davis Strait; minke whale; North Atlantic
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.228.6287; http://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/nefsc/publications/tm/tm182/pdfs/30.pdf

Minke whales have a cosmopolitan distribution in polar, temperate and tropical waters. In the North Atlantic there are four recognized populations — Canadian east coast, west Greenland, central North Atlantic, and northeastern North Atlantic (Donovan 1991). These four population divisions were defined by examining segregation by sex and length, catch distributions, sightings, marking data and pre-existing ICES boundaries; however, there are very few data from the Canadian east coast population. Minke whales off the eastern coast of the United States are considered to be part of the Canadian east coast stock, which inhabits the area from the eastern half of the Davis Strait (45°W) to the Gulf of Mexico. The relationship between this and the other three stocks is uncertain. It is also uncertain if there are separate stocks within the Canadian east coast stock.