Do Minke Whales (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) Exhibit Particular Prey Preferences?

Source - Journal of Northwest Atlantic Fishery Science, Volume 22: 91-104
ISSN-0250-6408

 

Skaug, H.J., Gjosæter, H., Haug, T., Nilssen, K.T. and Lindstrøm, U. 1997. Do Minke Whales (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) Exhibit Particular Prey Preferences? J. Northw. Atl. Fish. Sci. 22: 91-104. https://doi.org/10.2960/J.v22.a8

 

By comparing data from analyses of forestomach contents from 44 Northeast Atlantic minke whales (Balaenoptera acutorostrata), caught in scientific whaling operations in coastal areas of North Norway and Russia in July-August 1992, with results from concurrent measurements of prey abundance, performed using trawls and acoustic devices, the following question was addressed: in an idealized situation where all actual prey species are available in equal amounts, do minke whales have a positive or negative preference for any particular species? Three different statistical methods (one qualitative, two quantitative), all relying on assumptions about whale behaviour and prey distribution, were applied to the data. Limitations of the experimental design and the implications for the assumptions of the analyses certainly calls for some caution when interpreting the results. Nevertheless, the presented analyses seems to support a view that minke whales are quite flexible in their choice of food, adapting well to local prey abundance situations with few, if any, strong preferences. Under idealized conditions, however, the whales may be more reluctant to feed upon plankton, mainly krill (Thysanoessa sp.), than upon other prey items such as herring (Clupea harengus) and capelin (Mallotus villosus). The absence of plankton patches in concentrations suitable for minke whale feeding in the surveyed areas may have contributed to this possible negative preference, even though the resource surveys showed that krill contributed significantly to the total available prey biomass.

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Language - English
Publisher - Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO), Dartmouth, N.S., Canada
Publication Date - December 1997
Publication Type - Journal Article

Citation: Skaug, H.J., Gjosæter, H., Haug, T., Nilssen, K.T. and Lindstrøm, U. 1997. Do Minke Whales (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) Exhibit Particular Prey Preferences? J. Northw. Atl. Fish. Sci. 22: 91-104. https://doi.org/10.2960/J.v22.a8