Common Minke Whale Taken on route to Mull on 2nd August 2012 using Nikon D40X with Nikon 300 mm zoom lens.   Common Minke Whale. Species: Order: Family: A.K.A. Balaenoptera acutorostrata. Cetacea. Balaenopteridae. Habitat: Length: Food: Feature: 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.  9 to 10 mts. Primarily fish, but their diet also includes pelagic crustaceans and cephalopods and varies by region, season, and year. Their main predators are killer whales. Two to four killer whales will chase the Minke at up to 30 km/hr. The Minke can outrun them. However, if the pursuing killer whales do catch up to the Minke it does not defend itself.