Along the Pacific coast of North America, minke whales were rarely 

 killed i^or reported killed J by commercial whalers. Two were taken off 

 British Columbia in igz; by a commercial shore-based fishery and a 

 few were taken by shore whalers operating from Akutan, Alaska 

 between 1912 and 19J7. 



The rWC currently recognizes two stocks ot minke whales in the 

 Northwest Pacific: the Okhotsk SeaAVest Pacific stock and the Sea of 

 Japan stock, including the Sea of Japan, Yellow Sea and East China Sea. 

 Minke whales in the eastern North Pacific may also exist as separate 

 stocks, but there is at present insufficient information to define 

 populations or to describe movements and mi.\ing. 



The Sea of Japan stock is being exploited by Japan and the Republic 

 of Korea. The People's Republic of China discontinued whaling in 

 1981. Based on analysis of catch-per-unit-of-effort and historical 

 catches of minke whales, the size ot the Okhotsk Sea- West Pacific 

 stock was estimated in igSi to contain 17,000 to 28,000 animals. 

 Quotas of S,634 and 1,678 were set for the Sea of Japan stock and the 

 Okhotsk Sea-West Pacific stocks, respectively, for the period 

 1981-1984. The remaining North Pacific stocks have been protected 

 from whaling because estimates of stock size ; original or current | have 

 not been available for them. 



Because modern shore whaling stations in western North America 

 neither routinely hunted minke whales nor noted sightings of them on 

 the whaling grounds, little was known until recently about even such 

 rudiments of this species' natural history as distribution. Recent 

 sightings programs in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska and off the 

 coast of northern. Central and Southern California have shown that 

 minke whales are present in these areas, occurring in shallow shelf 

 waters as well as m deeper areas, far from shore. 



In the northeastern Pacific, in general, minke whales range from the 

 Chukchi Sea, near Point Barrow, Alaska, south at least to the Re- 

 villagigedos Islands, Baja California. Mexico, and are sighted occas- 

 sionally in the Sea of Cortez. Sighting records and repeat observations 

 of photo-identified individuals in northern Puget Sound suggest that 

 some whales may reside there year round. By contrast, the seasonal 

 variablitiy of sightings in other areas has prompted the hypothesis that 

 some minke whales are migratory, moving north through coastal 

 waters in spring and summer and south, farther offshore, in autumn 

 and winter. There are, however, neither tagging data nor other une- 

 quivocal evidence of such movements. 



Minke whales have long been known to occur off Central and 

 Northern California. Until recently, however, sightings were not 

 sufficiently numerous to suggest any patterns there. However, results of 

 recent extensive aerial surveys (1980-1983) demonstrated that minke 

 whales were present in those areas in all seasons but were most 

 abundant in summer and early autumn, at which time they were 

 relatively common. 



Results of aerial and vessel surveys and other obser\'er programs 

 spanning some 1 5 years show that minke whales are present in the SCB 

 throughout the year. They are often seen within a few miles ^ especially 

 on the leeward sides) of San Miguel. Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz and 

 Anacapa islands and have been reported from other widespread lo- 

 calities. Some workers have interpreted seasonal variations in numbers 

 of whales reported as evidence of migrations into the SCB during 

 spring and summer and movement of some of the population out of 

 the area in autumn and winter. However, given that minke whales are 

 difficult to see and that weather conditions in autumn and winter are 

 not generally as good as at other times of year, we remain skeptical 

 about such interpretations. Minke whales leaving Alaskan and other 

 northern feeding areas in autumn could reasonably be expected to be 

 on southern grounds in winter and spring months. Their tendency to 

 occur alone or in groups of three or fewer in southern waters and in 

 larger groups in northern waters compounds the problem of detecting 

 them on the southern grounds. 



In the North Pacific, minke whales have been noted to feed on 

 euphausiids, copepods, sand lance and herring. There is little informa- 

 tion available on breeding biology in the eastern North Pacific, but at 

 comparable latitudes in the western Pacific breeding occurs from 

 December through March and calves are born approximately ten 

 months after conception. 



Strandings of minke whales have been reported from Northern 

 (three whales between 1966 and 1974 along the Humboldt County 

 coastline). Central (one in Morro Bay in 1959) and Southern (one near 

 Santa Barbara m the late 19705, one on Santa Catalina Island m 1967, 

 and two farther south near Long Beach and San Diego in 1982) 

 California. In addition, we found scattered pieces of minke whale 

 baleen on beaches in Pyramid Cove, San Clemente Island, in June 

 '97!- 



FlGURK 20. A mtnke whale stranded at Santa Barbara. The subtleties ot the species coloration and the white baleen are clearly detectable. (Photo by S. 

 Anderson from Leatherwood et at., 1982, Figure no top.) 



17 



