Balaenoptera acutorostrata
Silhouette: Chris huh · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
The common minke whale or northern minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) is a species of minke whale within the suborder of baleen whales. It is the smallest species of the rorquals and the second smallest species of baleen whale. Although first ignored by whalers due to its small size and low oil yield, it began to be exploited by various countries beginning in the early 20th century. As other species declined, larger numbers of common minke whales were caught, largely for their meat. It is now one of the primary targets of the whaling industry. There is a dwarf form in the Southern Hemisphere.
This species is known in the fossil record from the Pliocene epoch to the Quaternary period (age range: 4.7 million years ago to present day). The origins of the species' common name are obscure. One of the first references to the name came in Henrik Johan Bull's account of his 1893–95 voyage to the Antarctic, when he mentioned catching a small whale "called in the Arctic language a Mencke whale, after a German who accompanied Mr. Foyn on some of his voyages." According to the British writer John Guille Millais (The mammals of Great Britain and Ireland, 1906, vol. 3... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Svalbard | 🇳🇴 Norway | |
| 2 | Gros Morne National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 3 | Great Bear Rainforest | 🇨🇦 Canada |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Montreal | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 2 | Los Angeles | 🇺🇸 United States |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Minke Whale sighting in Great Bear Rainforest on a given day, based on 14 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 21st most-seen of the 35 mammals we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Minke Whale in Great Bear Rainforest on a given day, against under 5% in September to April, the lowest months. That is one of Great Bear Rainforest's driest months, with about 140 mm of rain against 480 mm in November.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Minke Whale sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
3rd of 3
Of the 3 parks where we can rate Minke Whale sightings, Great Bear Rainforest ranks 3rd at about 10%. The best odds are in Svalbard (Norway, about 40%) and Gros Morne National Park (Canada, about 20%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Minke Whale is recorded against all the mammals logged in Great Bear Rainforest (14 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
