Common minke whale been numerous recorded instances of killer whales preying on or attacking common minke whales in places such as the Kamchatka Peninsula, Alaska, British Columbia, Washington State, California, the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Greenland, and Svalbard. They are normally able to outpace pursuing killer whales in open water or are trapped in a bay, where they are rammed and drowned or strand and die – in one instance a minke whale was able to refloat itself on the rising tide and swim away. Chases usually last about 30 minutes to an hour and can reach speeds of up , often with
Antarctic minke whale dark gray dorsally and clean white (occasionally light gray to gray) ventrally with a thin, dusky margin. Some small, dark gray "speckling" may be present on the body. Antarctic minkes lack the bright white, transverse "flipper band" of the common minke and the white "shoulder blaze" and bright white "flipper patch" (occupying the proximal two-thirds of the flipper) of the dwarf minke. Instead, their narrow, pointed flippers, about one-sixth to one-eighth of the total body length, are normally either a plain light gray with an almost white leading edge and a darker gray trailing edge or two-toned, with a thin