Illustration of right whale
right whale
noun
: any of several large baleen whales (family Balaenidae and especially genus Eubalaena) that lack a dorsal fin and have very long baleen plates, an extremely large head with a V-shaped blowhole, a smooth throat, short, broad, rounded flippers, and whitish protuberances of thickened skin about the head
Examples of right whale in a Sentence
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The traditional home for North Atlantic right whales (all 370 of them) stretches along the East Coast, from New England to the Southeastern U.S., NOAA says.
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Mark Price, Miami Herald, 9 Apr. 2025
Onlookers also got to see five gray whales, 300 other northern right whale dolphins, 20 Risso’s dolphins, five humpback whales and two bottlenose dolphins the same day, the group said on Facebook.
—Paloma Chavez, Sacramento Bee, 3 Mar. 2025
Measuring in at more than 600 square kilometers, this pristine preserve is brimming with greater rheas as well as iconic mammals like the guanaco and puma, all while southern right whales can be spotted from the safety of shore from July to November.
—Jared Ranahan, Forbes.com, 30 June 2025
The new study looked at humpbacks, gray whales, and north atlantic and southern right whales.
—Popular Science Team, Popular Science, 21 May 2025
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Mark Price, Miami Herald, 9 Apr. 2025
Onlookers also got to see five gray whales, 300 other northern right whale dolphins, 20 Risso’s dolphins, five humpback whales and two bottlenose dolphins the same day, the group said on Facebook.
—Paloma Chavez, Sacramento Bee, 3 Mar. 2025
Measuring in at more than 600 square kilometers, this pristine preserve is brimming with greater rheas as well as iconic mammals like the guanaco and puma, all while southern right whales can be spotted from the safety of shore from July to November.
—Jared Ranahan, Forbes.com, 30 June 2025
The new study looked at humpbacks, gray whales, and north atlantic and southern right whales.
—Popular Science Team, Popular Science, 21 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for right whale
Cite this Entry
“Right whale.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/right%20whale. Accessed 18 Jul. 2025.
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