On April 2, NIFS filmed a minke whale calf following its mother by repeatedly swimming by or off its mother in Ulleungdo Island. It was the first time ever in the world for minke whales to be filmed. The full body of minke whales was also caught on film for the first time in Korea. 

There has been cases that filmed the Antarctic minke whale (Balanoptera bonaerensis) swimming together with her calf in Australia and Antarctic, but this survey was conducted on north pacific minke whale (Balanoptera acutorostrata).

As the Cetacean Research Institute of NIFS expanded its survey on marine mammal distribution in Korea, this year conducted the survey around Ulleungdo Island for the first time for four days from April 1, finding three minke whales as well as a school of common dolphins (around 400 entities) and three unidentified whale species. 

The two out of the three minke whales found were identified as mother and her calf, which were filmed moving together by drones. 

On the bodies of the two minke whales found were the biting marks, which were made by sharks living in subtropical and tropical regions. Given those marks, it was assumed that mother minke whale has been moving to Ulleungdo Island through the Korean strait alongside her calf born in warm waters of the Western and Central Pacific. 

Additionally, around 400 common dolphins were found in the coast of Ulleungdo Island, which were recorded as a case discovered in the easternmost part of Korea by the survey of the Cetacean Research Institute.