Balaenoptera acutorostrata
Silhouette: Chris huh · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~80% in a week >90%
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 |
Likely
About 40% of wildlife watchers report a Minke Whale sighting in Svalbard on a given day, based on 74 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 8th most-seen of the 14 mammals we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 80%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
June to September
In those months about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Minke Whale in Svalbard on a given day, against under 5% in March and April, the lowest months. December has too few records to rate.
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.
Yes
Of the 3 parks where we can rate Minke Whale sightings, Svalbard has the highest daily chance: about 40%. Next come Gros Morne National Park (Canada, about 20%) and Great Bear Rainforest (Canada, about 10%).
Same genus: Balaenoptera
The closest relatives of the Minke Whale that you can see in Svalbard (genus Balaenoptera) are Fin Whale (about 20%) and Blue Whale (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Minke Whale is recorded against all the mammals logged in Svalbard (74 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.
