“no point in fighting the lefties..” There be wee to gain.. lest in our effort we create displeasure and deny to Him such scenes for ammusennt, that He alone, hath created, and left in our custody. http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_8318000/8318182.stm
Until the 1990s, only one species of minke whale was recognized, the Antarctic Minke Whale B. bonaerensis being regarded as conspecific with the Common Minke Whale B. acutorostrata. Most of the scientific literature prior to the late 1990s uses the name B. acutorostrata for all minke whales including Antarctic Minke Whales. Since 2000, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) Scientific Committee (SC) has recognized Antarctic Minke Whales as the separate species B. bonaerensis, while all northern hemisphere minke whales and all southern hemisphere "dwarf" minke whales are regarded as B. acutorostrata (IWC 2001). This has been followed by management and treaty bodies, such as Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
http://www.cites.org/eng/resources/species.html
Balaenoptera bonaerensis
(1985–91) 786,000
(1991–2004) 338,000
http://www.redlist.org/documents/attach/2480.pdf
The IWC SC conducted a major assessment of Antarctic minke whales in 1990, and a population estimate of 760,000 was adopted, based on results of the IDCR surveys conducted in the seasons 1982/83 through 1988/89 (IWC 1991).
Results of subsequent surveys indicated lower abundances leading the Committee to conclude in 2000 that the estimate of 760,000 was no longer a valid estimate of current abundance.
The Committee has to date (January 2007) been unable to determine whether the apparent decline was real or artifactual.
http://www.redlist.org/apps/redlist/details/2480/0