MINKE WHALE (Balaenoptera acutorostrata): Alaska Stock Revised 8/8/97 STOCK DEFINITION AND GEOGRAPHIC RANGE: In the North Pacific, minke whales

• Main Author: Chukchi Seas South
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Minimum Population; Bering Strait; Dorsey; Gulf of Alaska; Pacific; Balaenoptera acutorostrata; Chukchi; minke whale; Alaska
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.294.8858; http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/pdfs/sars/ak1997whmi.pdf

to near the equator (Leatherwood et al. 1982). The following information was considered in classifying stock structure according to the Dizon et al. (1992) phylogeographic approach: 1) Distributional data: geographic distribution continuous, 2) Population response data: unknown; 3) Phenotypic data: unknown; and 4) Genotypic data: unknown. Based on this limited information, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) recognizes 3 stocks of minke whales in the North Pacific: one in the Sea of Japan/East China Sea, one in the rest of the western Pacific west of 180 o N, and one in the “remainder ” of the Pacific (Donovan 1991). The “remainder ” stock designation reflects the lack of exploitation in the eastern Pacific and does not indicate that only one population exists in this area (Donovan 1991). In the “remainder ” area, minke whales are relatively common in the Bering and Chukchi Seas and Figure 34. Approximate distribution of minke whales in the eastern North Pacific (shaded area). CA/OR/ WA stock in the inshore waters of the Gulf of Alaska (Mizroch 1992), but are not considered abundant in any other part of the eastern Pacific (Leatherwood et al. 1982, Brueggeman et al. 1990). Minke whales are known to penetrate loose ice during the summer, and some individuals venture north of the Bering Strait (Leatherwood et al. 1982). In the northern part of their range minke whales are believed to be migratory, whereas they appear to establish home ranges in the inland waters of Washington and along central California (Dorsey et al. 1990). Because the “resident ” minke whales from California to Washington appear behaviorally distinct from migratory whales farther north, minke whales in Alaska are considered a separate stock from minke whales in California, Oregon, and Washington. Accordingly, two stocks of minke whales are recognized in U. S. waters: 1) Alaska, and 2) California / Washington/Oregon (Fig. 34). The California/Oregon/Washington minke whale stock is reported separately in the Stock Assessment Reports for the ...