Like
other baleen whales, the various
populations of minke whales appear to
migrate from high latitude feeding
grounds in the summer to low latitude
grounds in winter months. However, the
detailed pattern of migration is still
unclear and may be quite complex. In the
northeast Pacific, for instance, it has
been suggested that some minke whales
are migratory while others form a
resident population.
There
is not enough evidence to plot migration
patterns for dwarf minke whales. We know
that dwarf minke whales occur broadly
from Victoria to northern Queensland
between March and October, with maximum
sightings on the northern Great Barrier
Reef in June and July.
Dwarf
minke whales have also been reported
between December and March in the
sub-Antarctic and Antarctic, with most
sightings between 53-62°S. A sighting
survey off Western Australia recorded
dwarf minke whales well offshore
(600-830km) between about 18-35°S in
late November and early December. No
dwarf minke whales were recorded in the
same area during a repeat survey in late
February and March.
Scattered sightings and strandings from
southern Queensland and northern New
South Wales early in the season
(May-June) and late in the season
(September) give hints of a migration
along the east Australian coast but
records are far too few to document
movements of the whales. This
underscores the importance of the data
from our Whale Sighting Sheets which
have been widely distributed to dive
industry vessels and other regular Reef
users.
NASA
area photograph of maximum Dwarf Minke
Whale sightings
