The Unexpected arrives on the beach: -

This Minke whale was washed up on the beach at Rimac on 11th January, this was the southern most of 9 recorded on the east coast this winter, most of the rest being on Scottish beaches.  The whale was just under 5 meters in length (14.5 feet), which is about half of its potential full size.  Minke whales are the commonest whales around the UK and are the species that is now the subject of whale watching trips from west Scottish ports such as Mallaig. On the east coast, they occasionally enter the North Sea, coming as far as Yorkshire.

There are two types of whales, the toothed whales and the baleen whales. Minke whales are baleen whales. This means that they have plates in the upper jaw containing a bristle like structure, which allows them to sieve their food. They do this by taking in very large volumes of water, which is the forced out through the baleen and the remaining plankton and small fish are swallowed. Whilst the minke is the smallest of the baleen whales, it is amazing that this species and its bigger cousin, the blue whale and largest animal ever to live on earth, exist on some of the smallest food imaginable. 

To the right is a photograph showing the baleen in the upper jaw and on the left is a photograph showing it in close-up.

The Minke is the whale hunted by the Norwegians today after they left the International Whaling Commission, which currently bans hunting, other than for scientific purposes. They have an annual quota of around 600, based on a scientific assessment, which they say is a sustainable catch level. This was not previously a preferred target species since the whalers of all countries went for the lager species, but most of these are still now at relatively low levels.