Common minke whale and George Heinsohn (1987), though a white-flippered form in the Southern Hemisphere had been noted earlier. The former described a "diminutive form" based on specimens caught off Durban, South Africa, while the latter named a "dwarf form" based on specimens and sightings from Australia. This unnamed subspecies has a prominent white flipper and shoulder blaze and a dark throat patch, whereas what was called the "dark-shouldered" or "ordinary" form of minke whale (now known as a separate species, the Antarctic minke whale, "B. bonaerensis") lacked these contrasting markings. Until recently, all minke whales were considered a single species. However, the
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