It is hard to guess what a Common minke whale weights. But we have the answer:
An adult Common minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) on average weights 5588.55 kg (12320.62 lbs).
The Common minke whale is from the family Balaenopteridae (genus: Balaenoptera). They can live for up to 50 years. When reaching adult age, they grow up to 5.53 meter (18′ 2″). On average, Common minke whales can have babies 1 times per year with a litter size of 1.
As a reference: An average human weights in at 62 kg (137 lbs) and reaches an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″). Humans spend 280 days (40 weeks) in the womb of their mother and reach around 75 years of age.
The common minke whale or northern minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) is a species of minke whale within the suborder of baleen whales.It is the smallest species of the rorquals and the second smallest species of baleen whale. Although first ignored by whalers due to its small size and low oil yield, it began to be exploited by various countries beginning in the early 20th century. As other species declined larger numbers of common minke whales were caught, largely for their meat. It is now one of the primary targets of the whaling industry. There is a dwarf form in the Southern Hemisphere.This species is known in the fossil record from the Pliocene epoch to the Quaternary period (age range: 3.6 million years ago to present day).
Animals of the same family as a Common minke whale
We found other animals of the Balaenopteridae family:
- Humpback whale bringing 30000 kilos (66138.6 lbs) to the scale
- Fin whale bringing 47503 kilos (104726.06 lbs) to the scale
- Bryde’s whale bringing 20000 kilos (44092.4 lbs) to the scale
- Sei whale bringing 22103.13 kilos (48729 lbs) to the scale
- Blue whale bringing 154160.65 kilos (339865.65 lbs) to the scale
Animals with the same weight as a Common minke whale
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Balaenoptera acutorostrata:
- Stejneger’s beaked whale with a weight of 4800 kilos (10582.18 lbs)
- Cuvier’s beaked whale with a weight of 4772.5 kilos (10521.55 lbs)
- African forest elephant with a weight of 4750 kilos (10471.95 lbs)
- Killer whale with a weight of 5629.17 kilos (12410.18 lbs)
- Gervais’ beaked whale with a weight of 5600 kilos (12345.87 lbs)
Animals with the same size as a Common minke whale
Not that size really matters, but it makes things comparable. So here are a couple of animals that are as big as Common minke whale:
- True’s beaked whale with a size of 5.18 meter (17′ 0″)
- Narwhal with a size of 5.1 meter (16′ 9″)
- Sowerby’s beaked whale with a size of 5.03 meter (16′ 7″)
- Ginkgo-toothed beaked whale with a size of 4.88 meter (16′ 1″)
- Long-finned pilot whale with a size of 5.69 meter (18′ 9″)
- Blainville’s beaked whale with a size of 4.59 meter (15′ 1″)
- Stejneger’s beaked whale with a size of 6.09 meter (20′ 0″)
- Hubbs’ beaked whale with a size of 5.4 meter (17′ 9″)
- Short-finned pilot whale with a size of 6.1 meter (20′ 1″)
Animals with the same litter size as a Common minke whale
Here is a list of animals that have the same number of babies per litter (1) as a Common minke whale:
- Lowland paca
- Ring-tailed lemur
- Gerenuk
- Northern brushtail possum
- Nathusius’s pipistrelle
- Masoala fork-marked lemur
- Lion-tailed macaque
- Gray dorcopsis
- Tamaraw
- Yellow-bellied glider
Animals with the same life expectancy as a Common minke whale
Completely different animals, but becoming as old as a Common minke whale:
- Dromedary with an average maximal age of 40 years
- Pygmy hippopotamus with an average maximal age of 43.75 years
- Short-beaked echidna with an average maximal age of 50 years
- Walrus with an average maximal age of 40 years
- Brown bear with an average maximal age of 50 years
- Harp seal with an average maximal age of 42 years
- Baikal seal with an average maximal age of 56 years
- Black crested gibbon with an average maximal age of 44.08 years
- Guinea baboon with an average maximal age of 40 years
- Ringed seal with an average maximal age of 46 years