Washington’s 70 minke whale records belong to salt water from end to end. The San Juan Islands National Monument anchors the record with 30 entries, and the named counties, San Juan, Jefferson, Clallam, Island, and Grays Harbor among them, read as a tour of the Salish Sea and the outer coast.
The smallest rorqual in inland waters
Minke whales are the smallest of the rorqual, or groove-throated, whales in Washington waters, usually 25 to 30 feet long, with a sharply pointed snout and a quick, low blow that is easy to miss before the animal slips back under. They feed by lunging through schools of small fish and krill, and in the inland sea they work alone or in loose pairs along tide lines and current seams where prey concentrates.
A summer whale in Washington waters
Reports build through spring, crest in July, and fade by late fall, with almost nothing logged from November through February. Minkes travel with their prey, and many shift from the inland waters toward the open coast or points north as the seasons turn, so the warm months are when a Washington observer stands the best chance of seeing one.
Status in Washington
NatureServe lists the minke whale as SU, Unrankable, in Washington, a rank commonly applied to wide-ranging marine species whose fortunes move with ocean conditions rather than state boundaries. The species is native to Washington waters, and the IUCN lists it globally as Least Concern.
Full species profile
