Description: The minke whale is the smallest and most common of the baleen whales found around the coast of Northern Ireland. The head is flat, narrow and pointed with a sharp central ridge that runs from in front of the two blow holes to the edge of the upper lip. Numerous throat grooves (between 50 and 70) extend halfway along the body and allow the throat to expand when the whale is feeding. There are between 200 and 350 short (less than 20 cm long) cream/yellow baleen plates on each side of the upper jaw.

The body is slender and rarely longer than 10 m. The upper parts are dark – black, brown or grey, the underside is pale/white. The pointed flippers have a distinctive diagonal white band across the middle of the upper surface. The dorsal fin is curved or hook shaped and located nearly two-thirds of the way along the back towards the tail.

Habitat: An open water species, most often seen in coastal and inshore areas but sometimes enters inlets, bays or estuaries.

Distribution: Their distribution is considered cosmopolitan as they are found in polar, temperate, and tropical waters. There are record of Minke whales from all around the northern Ireland coast.

Similar Species: May be confused with the sei, fin or Northern bottlenose whale. The sight of the blow and the dorsal fin at the same time occurs only with sei and minke whales. Only minke whales have white bands on their flippers.

Key Identification Features:

• Dark grey-black back with a sickle-shaped dorsal fin
• Pointed head
• white band on the outer part of the flippers
• Relatively small whale, adults reach lengths of 6.75-10 m long

Distribution Map from NBN: Balaenoptera acutorostrata at National Biodiversity Network mapping facility, data for UK.

iNaturalist: Balaenoptera acutorostrata at iNaturalist World Species Observations database.

GBIF data for Balaenoptera acutorostrata

WoRMS: Balaenoptera acutorostrata at World Register of Marine Species. Accepted name: Balaenoptera acutorostrata Lacépède, 1804. AphiaID: 137087.

Classification: Biota; Animalia; Chordata; Vertebrata; Gnathostomata; Tetrapoda; Mammalia; Theria; Cetartiodactyla; Cetancodonta; Cetacea; Mysticeti; Balaenopteridae; Balaenoptera