Antarctic minke whale pioneer Svend Foyn and led by Henrik Johan Bull, managed to harpoon at least three minke whales in the Antarctic between December 1894 and January 1895. Two were saved, both being used for fresh meat (one had only yielded two barrels of blubber). In December 1923, when the men of the first modern whaling expedition to visit the Ross Sea saw "a number of spouts" after leaving the ice edge they were soon disgusted to find out that they from lowly minke whales. The few caught by the British in the 1950s were taken more for curiosity than anything else.
Creature type (Dungeons & Dragons) all animal type monsters are based on real world animals. Creature entries based on mythological, fictional, or nonexistent animals are usually classified as magical beasts (see below). Besides ordinary fish, birds, reptiles and mammals, the animal type is also applied to depictions of dinosaurs, prehistoric animals, and "dire" or specially modified, often larger and scarier, versions of real world animals. Some real world animals are not given the animal type in the game. Examples include arthropods (insects, spiders, etc.) and worms, which the game classifies as "vermin" (see below) and not animals. Mollusks, such as octopuses, are often classified as