minke
/ˈmɪŋkə
/ /ˈmɪŋki/(also minke whale)
noun
A small rorqual whale with a dark grey back, white underparts, and pale markings on the fins and behind the head.
- Balaenoptera acutorostrata, family Balaenopteridae.
- As it just so happens - and this is pure coincidence - the meat from the minke, sei and sperm whales analytically slaughtered during the sheerly scientific research program is sold commercially.
- So, it looks as though the species of large whales the killer whales did eat were typically calves of other humpback whales or grey whales or minke, and grey whales have recovered and yet we see this decline of other species.
Origin
1930s: probably from Meincke, the name of a Norwegian whaler.