Length: 29-30 feet
Life Span: Up to 60 years.
First Discovered by Fabricus in 1780, then in 1804 were taxonomically classified by Lacepede, However Minke Whales have been a familiar sight to the coastal dwelling people in the temperate and sub-polar waters for a long time prior. Minkes were named for the Norwegian whaler Meinke- who thought the Minkes he saw were there much larger cousins the Blue Whale.
Native Americans hunted Minkes in Cape Flattery but focused on the Gray and Humpbacked Whales. The Minke has been featured in myths and iconography of the native people in the Pacific Northwest. Although not as often as the Killer Whale.
Minke Whales are frequently seen in the open ocean but are also commonly seen in Strait of Juan De Fuca around the San Juan Islands. Perhaps they come in to the straits for the same reason the Gray Whales do. There is a higher concentration of food here then the feeding grounds in Alaska. Minke Whales are the smallest of the "finner" whales (includes Brydes, Blues, Fins and Sei Whales) Finner whales were named because of the falcate (sickle shaped) dorsal fin on their backs. Other baleen whales (Right, Grays, Bowhead) do not have this fin. They are classified as Roquels which means red whale in Norwegian. Roquels include all the finners and the humpback whale. They get the Roquel name because when their throat groves are expanded it shows the pink skin in between.
There is three different forms of Minke Whales around the world: Northern Minke which are found here in the Pacific Northwest, The Antarctic Minke which is found only south of the Equator, and the Dwarf Minke which like its larger cousin the Antarctic Minke is only found south of the Equator. On this site we will only talk about the Northern Minke Whale. There is an estimated 631 Minke Whales that have been counted along the California, Oregon and Washington Coast including the Strait of Juan De Fuca. These whales are considered to be a separate stock from the migratory Minkes from Alaska.
In Washington they feed on fish and krill as individual specialist, meaning the do the work alone to get their meal. They usually breach feed, herding the fish to the surface and then the Minke breaches with its mouth wide open filling its mouth with water and fish then it pushes the water out with its tongue trapping its meal behind the baleen..
