Imagine zooming through the water at over 20 miles per hour or having the ability to stay submerged beneath its surface for 25 minutes without taking a breath. Next imagine breaking water to breathe in, making such a noise that it is as loud as a jet taking off! If you can then you are imagining yourself as one of the 800 000 minke whales living everywhere but in the cold expanses of the polar regions.
								At the front of the minke's body is a pointed snout. Just behind are sixty throat grooves while, level with the grooves, is a flipper which has a white band and a pointed tip. On the underside of the body is a white patch. The dorsal fin (the one on its back) is sickle-shaped and relatively small. There is a pointed curve in the back fin. Minke whales do not have teeth but they do have baleen. (Baleen is like the bristles on a brush. It hangs down from the top of the mouth.) When the whale sucks in some water all the tiny creatures that are populating it are trapped in the baleen while the water passes through the gaps. In other words, the baleen acts like a sieve. The minke whale has the same diet as the blue whale.
							The breeding season of the minke whale is in late Winter and early Spring. Mum is pregnant for 10 months and the calf is born near the surface where it is warm. Almost immediately after its birth, the baby swims to the surface, with the help of its mother, to take its first breath. Amazingly, the young calf can swim after just half an hour. At birth the calf is nine feet long and weighs one thousand pounds. It will stay with its mother for at least a year. On top of the head are two blowholes. These blowholes are used five to six times every minute. Because the minke whale begins exhaling before it reaches the surface the blow itself is extremely low and the spout itself is very small. The minke whale is widespread and, in the Summer season, they migrate to the North, ranging from Florida to Labrador Sands in Greenland and from North Africa to Spitsbergen. The males migrate further. Minke whales usually travel in pods of two or three. Upon occasion minke whales are seen in larger groups but this only happens in higher latitudes. In northern Scotland ten to fifteen individuals can be seen. They are often seen closely because the minke whales like to approach boats, especially stationary ones. The minke whale is an amazing animal and, when it is seen, it is a wonderful sight.