Like fin whales, they often arch the tail stock high into the air when beginning a long dive. However, they do not raise the flukes above the surface when beginning a dive.
Minke whales feed primarily on small shoal fish (herring, cod, pollack, and capelin).
Minkes sometimes breach, leaping completely clear of the water and entering smoothly, head first, or with a substantial splash like humpback whales.
May Be Confused With
When they are seen at relatively close range, minke whales can be readily distinguished from the other rorquals that have relatively tall, falcate dorsal fins (fin, sei, and Bryde's whales) by their considerably smaller size and by their distinctive white band on each flipper.
At a distance, however, positive identification may be difficult. Minke whales have a small, low, inconspicuous blow. Like sei whales, they frequently expose the dorsal fin simultaneously with the blow, but minke whales hump the tail stock much higher when beginning a long dive—more like fin whales.
From a distance, minke whales might also be mistaken for northern bottlenosed whales (or any of several other beaked whales with a similar dorsal fin). They can be distinguished by the differences in head shape, body color and markings, and behavior, detailed on p. [67].
Distribution
Minke whales are distributed in the polar, temperate, and tropical waters of the western North Atlantic. They are found from the pack ice south to at least Anguilla, Lesser Antilles, and the eastern Gulf of Mexico, though they appear to be most abundant in temperate waters north of the latitude of New York and are infrequently reported from tropical waters. At least some of the population migrates to the northern portions of their range in spring and back south in autumn. They often approach close to shore and enter river mouths, inlets, and estuaries.
Minke whales arrive along the Canadian coast in May or June. Some migrate as far north as Hudson Strait, where they remain until the freeze in October, November, or December. By December the majority of the population has begun to move to the south, although some animals remain behind so long as to become entrapped in the ice and die. Spring and summer concentrations along the Canadian coast correspond to concentrations of capelin, cod, and herring. Southern concentrations, also corresponding with concentrations of herring, extend farther offshore at least to the edges of the Grand Bank. Minke whales also summer off the south coast of western Greenland, which they probably reach from waters southwest of Iceland. Minke whales also occur in deep pelagic waters.