Common minke whale this mistake during Foyn's whaling operations in the Varanger Fjord between 1868 and 1885." It has formerly been known as the little piked whale, the lesser or least rorqual, and the sharp-headed finner. American whalemen in the 19th century simply thought of them as "young finbacks" or a "Finback's calf", apparently under the impression that they were juveniles of their larger relative, the fin whale. They were also called zwergwal (German: "dwarf whale") or vågehval (Norwegian: "bay whale"). In Japan they are called koiwashi-kujira ("little sardine whale") or minku-kujira ("minke whale"). In Greenland they are known by the Danish name
Omura's whale examined from the Bohol Sea were found to be Omura's whales, whereas only 15% (4 of 28) were what was tentatively called the Indo-Pacific form of Bryde's whale ("B. brydei"). The former size category may be primarily (if not entirely) Omura's whale, whereas the larger whales – one of unknown sex of and two females of – would be the larger, offshore form of Bryde's whale. Of those smaller whales, four males ranged from , four females ranged from , and one of unknown sex was . Lone individuals seen off Madagascar were estimated to range between 8 and 12