Minke whales are typically seen on their own or in groups of 2-3 individuals. When they surface the blow hole and dorsal fin are seen at the same time. The minke whale lunge feeds, a process where they move fast through the water, turn on their side and come out the water scooping up their prey as they go. Short, bushy blow that dissipates quickly only visible at close range.

Although the minke whale is distributed worldwide there are three geographically isolated populations; North Pacific, North Atlantic and southern hemisphere. Those in the North Atlantic are typically isolated to the shallower waters over the continental shelf. It is the most abundant Rorqual whale in European waters.

Minke whales are one of many species which have been put under threat by commercial whaling, their name even originated from an 18th century Norwegian whaler. They were commercially hunted by a number of countries until the 1980's. However hunting of minke whales continues today by Japan, Iceland and Norway. Japan catch whales for “scientific research” then commercially process the whale carcasses after the research has taken place. As well as whaling, other threats which impact all cetaceans are pollution, reduction of prey by over fishing and bycatch apply to minke whales. There have also been numerous records of ship collisions causing fatalities of minke whales in UK waters.

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