---
title: "Antarctic Minke Whale"
description: "Balaenoptera bonaerensis — Mammals. The Antarctic minke whale or southern minke whale (Balaenoptera bonaerensis) is a species of minke whale within the suborder of baleen whales."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/antarctic-minke-whale
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Antarctic Minke Whale

> Balaenoptera bonaerensis — Mammals. The Antarctic minke whale or southern minke whale (Balaenoptera bonaerensis) is a species of minke whale within the suborder of baleen whales.

- Scientific name: *Balaenoptera bonaerensis*
- Category: `mammals` (Mammals)
- Habitats: `sea` (Sea & coast), `arctic` (Arctic)
- iNaturalist observations: 281
- Wikidata: [Q301055](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q301055)
- iNaturalist taxon: [41549](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/41549)

## Names

- en: Antarctic Minke Whale
- de: Südlicher Zwergwal
- es: Rorcual austral
- fr: Petit rorqual de l'Antarctique
- nl: Antarctische dwergvinvis
- pt: Baleia-minke-antártica
- pl: Płetwal antarktyczny

## Countries with the most observations

AR (5), CL (3)

## Summary

The Antarctic minke whale or southern minke whale (Balaenoptera bonaerensis) is a species of minke whale within the suborder of baleen whales. It is the second smallest rorqual after the common minke whale and the third smallest baleen whale. Although first scientifically described in the mid-19th century, it was not recognized as a distinct species until the 1990s. Once ignored by the whaling industry due to its small size and low oil yield, the Antarctic minke was able to avoid the fate of other baleen whales and maintained a large population into the 21st century, numbering in the hundreds of thousands. Surviving…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antarctic_minke_whale

## Photo

![Antarctic Minke Whale](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/antarctic-minke-whale/medium.jpg)

Photo: Kyle Bowman · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/331800622

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/antarctic-minke-whale?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).