Common minke whale utilized often and performed by all five whales; it was the principal technique used by M1, M2, and M3 prior to a feeding lunge. An "exhale on the dive" is exactly what its name implies: a whale exhaling as its blowholes submerge. This resulted in a large volume of water being displaced and typically followed a normal blow or a chin-up blow and on occasion a head slap. This technique was only executed by M1 and M5. These new techniques are thought to have been developed by these whales to help them herd small schooling fish (likely capelin) in the
Common minke whale auditory meatus, while dark or light speckling or streaking can occur along the flanks as well as what are called "tiger stripes" – "parallel, dark, usually vertical stripes". Like Bryde's whale (and occasionally blue and fin whales), dwarf minkes can exhibit auxiliary ridges on either side of the central ridge of the rostrum. Common minke whales have a disjointed distribution. In the North Atlantic, they occur as far north as Baffin Bay, Svalbard, Franz Josef Land, and Novaya Zemlya and as far south as 40°N (New Jersey) and the Hebrides and central North Sea during summer. There are a few