Brida Stripes is a predator that eats a large number of fish living in schools. This cosmopolitan inhabits the oceans, usually only in temperate and tropical latitudes. This mammal is considered thermophilic among all other minke whales and therefore lives in the warm zone of the World Ocean. You can meet him in the waters of Western Australia, South Africa, Indonesia, Japan and other places.
Description of minke whale
In appearance, Bride's minke is somewhat similar to sailes, but it is about one and a half meters smaller than them, and his body is more slender. Such tropical whales have a mass of 10 to 19 tons. On the head of the whale are three small growths. All of them are located so that their ends converge on the tip of the muzzle.
Bride's minke is known to have an elongated body. But the fins that are located on it are very small. The body length of such a mammal can reach up to 14 meters, but only females are always less. On the back of the body of the males, you can see the scars that remain after fighting with a shark.
Minke whale's head is wide. Especially large eyes stand out on it. And on top of it are the nostrils. Such a mammal has no teeth, instead of them are two rows of whalebone plates. They are wide, but not elastic. Bride has two rows of coarse hairs on his lower jaw. The fins on the back are located behind. Brida Stripes is a predatory whale that has a gray body color, although its upper part is a dirty blue hue.
Minke whale habitat
It is known that such whales prefer to live in open water, the temperature of which does not exceed twenty degrees. In order to feed themselves, they often go in shallow water. Mammals live either in small families or in pairs. Sometimes up to thirty whales can be collected at the feeding site.
Stripes Bryde became famous for his strange behavior: suddenly he can either jump out to the water surface, or change direction.
Before descending into the water, the minke whale takes a few breaths. Under water, it does not linger for more than 12 minutes, although it can take longer without air, for example, about twenty minutes. Such mammals usually dive to a depth of 300 meters. The height of the fountains that they release can reach up to four meters, although the trickle is thin. Usually they swim at a speed of about seven kilometers per hour, but it can reach up to 20 kilometers per hour.
Minke whales are known to regularly migrate, as they spend the winter near the Bonin Islands. But in the summer they like to live either in Kyu-Siu or in Sanriku. Most often, they can be found where predatory fish, such as sharks, spend their hunts.
Brides make short sounds. Remotely, they are somewhat similar to the groans of man.
People are considered the main enemies of such a mammal as Bryde's minke. The striped whale survives to 70 years if hunting does not begin on it. To date, the number of this species ranges from 50 to 90 individuals. Man began to hunt them back in the sixties. But still, minke whales suffer most from myxines and crustaceans: they make deep wounds on the body of the whale, which then begin to fester. Most often, the depth of such wounds is four centimeters, but can reach ten centimeters. Minke whales perish when they collide with ships or when they fall into fishing nets.
Minke whale feeding
Many people are interested in questions about what Brida's minke is and what it eats. The diet of minke whales depends on where they live. They hunt not only far from the coast, but also in shallow water. They can even eat penguins.
The diet of these whales is diverse. So, it includes crabs and copepods, lobsters and krill. Minke whales love to enjoy such cephalopods as squids and cuttlefish. If they get food off the coast, they can accidentally throw themselves on land, and then they will need help to return to the water element. There are cases when the Brides attacked sharks, the length of which reached a meter.
Breeding Breeds
The mating season at minke whales lasts throughout the year. Pregnancy in females also lasts a whole year. It is known that a female gives birth to one baby every three years. The weight of a newborn whale can be slightly less than a ton, and the length is approximately equal to four meters. The female has been feeding her baby milk for six months.
Puberty in males occurs at the age of five years, when their body reaches a length of 12 meters.