Common minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) — Vorstman's guide to the mammals of Europe

Tracks

The blow is inconspicuous, a low, thin plume of two to three metres that usually goes unseen. Often the pointed snout appears first, then the back, and the dorsal fin surfaces almost at the same time as the blow. On diving the tail stock arches high, but the flukes do not break the surface. An animal breathes a few times in quick succession and then stays down for several minutes. Minke Whales are usually alone or in pairs; at food concentrations they gather in groups of ten to twenty. Where they feed, seabirds such as Northern Gannets, gulls and auks are often seen over the water. Sometimes an animal approaches a stationary boat of its own accord. The species occasionally breaches.

Identification

A slender, dark whale with a sharply pointed, triangular head, which tapers to a point when seen from above. The back is dark grey to black, the belly white, and pale grey swathes rise up the flank. Characteristic of North Atlantic animals is a broad white band across the flipper, visible when the animal swims just below the surface or rolls. The dorsal fin sits about two-thirds of the way along the back and is erect and recurved; relative to the body it is taller than in the large rorquals. Adults reach 8.8 metres, females about seventy centimetres longer than males; a newborn calf is about 2.8 metres long.

Similar species

The Fin Whale is two to three times as long, has a tall, columnar blow and a long back that stays in view at each breath before the fin appears; the right lower jaw is white. A young Fin Whale can be similar in length to a Minke Whale, but lacks the white band on the flipper. The Sei Whale (Balaenoptera borealis), found in the north and west of the guide area, is larger and often shows head, blow and a tall, upright fin at the same time. The Humpback Whale is stockier, has long white flippers and a low fin on a hump, and raises its tail when diving. At long range a Minke Whale can be mistaken for a Bottlenose Dolphin or a Long-finned Pilot Whale: the fin is similar in shape, but sits far back on a much longer back.

Habitat

Coastal waters and the continental shelf, often over sand and gravel banks, at currents and fronts where schooling fish gather. The species eats small schooling fish such as sandeel, herring, sprat, capelin and mackerel, and in the far north also krill. It enters bays, fjords and straits, and can therefore also be seen from land.

Where the animal is most at home, classified with EUNIS — the European standard for habitats.

Distribution

Widespread in the central and eastern North Atlantic, from Iceland, Norway and the Barents Sea south to south-west Portugal. Around the British Isles the species is most numerous off the north and west coasts of Scotland and around the Hebrides, off the west and south coasts of Ireland, in the central Irish Sea and in the northern and central North Sea. In the southern North Sea and the eastern half of the Channel it is rare. In Norway it occurs along the whole coast, in summer also around Svalbard. In the Mediterranean the Minke Whale is a rare visitor.

Native
dark = core range, pale = thinly spread

Recording density, not a range: the map shows where the species is reported and draws no boundary around its range. The records of GBIF (2006-01-01 – 2026-12-31) are counted per 0.7° grid cell and divided by everything reported as a mammal in that same cell, so the number of observers does not shape the picture. Colour depth follows that share and fades out gradually, so the map does not follow national borders. Which of the four colours a cell takes is decided country by country from the literature, not from the records. Country outlines: Natural Earth (public domain).

Way of life

Active by day and night. The animals mostly live alone; what social structure there is has been little studied. Many Minke Whales move to food-rich northern waters in summer and south in winter, but where the animals of the guide area winter and calve is largely unknown. A newborn calf is about 2.8 metres long and weighs about 450 kilos. The species hunts among other ways by swimming open-mouthed through a school of fish, sometimes after gulls and auks have already driven the school to the surface.

Where and when to look

Around the British Isles the chances are best between May and September. Well-known places are the Hebrides and the coast of Mull, the coasts of Shetland and Orkney, and the north-east English coast of Northumberland and Yorkshire, where boat trips also depart. In Iceland Minke Whales can be seen in summer in Faxaflói near Reykjavík and around Húsavík. Choose a high vantage point on a headland, in calm seas and without backlight, and watch for seabirds circling over one spot: a feeding Minke Whale may surface there. Because the blow is often invisible, you usually see the back and fin first.

Conservation status

Least Concern (LC, 2018). The North Atlantic population is estimated at more than a hundred thousand animals. Norway hunts the species commercially and takes several hundred animals a year. Further threats are entanglement in fishing gear, ship strikes, underwater noise and depletion of prey fish. In the EU the species is listed on Annex IV of the Habitats Directive, and it is legally protected in British and Irish waters.

Scientific name

Balaenoptera acutorostrata | de Lacépède, 1804

De Lacépède described the species in 1804 and placed it straight away in the genus where it still stands. Balaenoptera is formed from Latin balaena, 'whale', and Greek pteron, 'wing, fin': the whale with a dorsal fin, unlike the right whales. acutorostrata is formed from Latin acutus, 'sharp', and rostratus, 'having a snout': sharp-snouted, after the pointed head. The specimen the first description was based on came from France, Cherbourg.