Studies of minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) ecology in the northeast Atlantic: Preliminary results from studies of diet and food availability during summer 1992

Stomach content samples from 92 minke whales Balaenoptera acutorostrata,\ncaught during scientific whaling operations in July-August 1992,\nwere collected in five selected areas in Norwegian and adjacent\nwaters. Preliminary results from the stomach analyses indicate\na diet almost completely dominated by fish, although there was\nconsiderable heterogeneity in species composition between the\nareas. Capelin dominated the minke whale diets in the two\nnorthernmost study areas (Spitsbergen and Bear Island). Further\nsouth, in coastal areas of North Norway and Russia, herring was\nthe most important food item, but was accompanied by significant\namounts of sand eel, cod, haddock and saithe. A survey aimed to\nlocate and classify fish and plankton resources was conducted\nsimultaneously with the scientific whaling program. The northern\nareas were particularly dominated by 0-group cod (which was not\nfound in whale stomachs), while capelin abundance was recorded\nonly sporadically. Along the coast of North Norway and Russia,\nthere appeared to be a larger degree of similarity between prey\nabundance and minke whale diet. Herring was documented to be very\nabundant both in the resource surveys and in the whale stomach\nanalyses. The similarity in distribution was particularly\nconspicuous for 0-group herring.