Last year, the Marine Research Institute initiated a wide ranging program for minke whale research in Icelandic waters. One of the sub-projects of the program involved tracking of the movements of minke whales by satellite telemetry. This part of the programme is conducted in cooperation between the Marine Research Institute and the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources. The minke whale is a migratory species spending the summer at productive feeding areas at high latitues, where they are believed to fulfill upto 80% of their annual food requirements during 4-6 months. According to the most recent sightings survey, around 44.000 minke whales inhabit the Icelandic continental shelf area during summer. Most of these animals leave Icelandic waters during autumn, but the whereabouts of the species during the winter breeding season is virtually unknown. It is generally assumed that minke whales and other species of the family Balaenopteridae migrate to warmer waters in lower latitudes for breeding.