Unique footage: Antarctic minke whales filmed by drone for the first time

Scientists in Antarctica managed to capture the "elusive" minke whales - representatives of whales that, unlike their "relatives", rarely reach a length of 10 meters.

This mammal also much less often comes into the field of vision of researchers.

In the video shared by the polar explorers, you can see a pair of minke whales swimming near the scientists' boat.

Scientists said that these whales are one of the smallest of the minke whale family, since they weigh up to 10 tons, and often do not reach even 10 meters in length. They can be found in all the oceans of the Southern Hemisphere of the Earth. Minke whales visit Antarctica for the Antarctic summer, since they can feed on krill there.

With the arrival of winter, huge mammals change their place of residence to warmer waters further north, where they reproduce. Despite this, some minke whales can wait out the winter near the icy continent.

The animals can be recognized from afar thanks to their characteristic sickle-shaped fin, which is both rounded and pointed. Usually, the mammal quickly moves between ice floes.

“Because of such maneuverability, the Antarctic minke whale is quite difficult to study: recording a meeting with it, and even more so measuring it or taking biopsies, is a great success. However, our scientists already have research results that they are ready to share. Wait for them in one of the next messages,” the polar explorers noted.