The body
of the minke whale is slender and strikingly streamlined.
The head is narrow and pointed, and a single ridge runs
down the centre of the triangular shaped rostrum, beginning
in front of the blowholes. This ridge resembles that
of the fin whale, except that it is much sharper (hence
the name sharp-headed finner).
The dorsal fin is tall and falcate, positioned quite
far forward, slightly less that 2/3 of the way back
from the tip of the rostrum (as in the sei whale). Normally
the fin becomes visible simultaneously with the blow.
There are 50-70 thin ventral pleats on the throat and
belly, the longest of which end slightly anterior to
the navel. The flippers are small and pointed (slightly
more than 1/8 the total body length) and may have a
conspicuous white diagonal band on the upper surface.
The flukes are broad and smoothly concave along the
notched rear margin.
