Illustration of humpback whale
humpback whale
noun
: a large baleen whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) that is black above and white below and has very long flippers, and fleshy tubercles along the snout
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It is estimated that four to five humpback whales are killed by vessel strikes between summer and fall, while five to six humpback whales meet the same fate between winter and spring in U.S. waters alone, according to a July 2021 study published in Frontiers in Marine Science.
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Scott Travers, Forbes.com, 19 Apr. 2025
Sandy beaches and rocky coves are covered with curiosities to explore—from crabs and starfish in the tidepools to monarchs flying by and humpback whales breaching in the distance.
—Pismo Beach Conference and Visitor Bureau, Mercury News, 15 Apr. 2025
Years of barking at sea did not lure humpback whales to swim closer, until Saturday.
—Alexis Simendinger, The Hill, 7 Apr. 2025
The researchers relied on machine learning developed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Google artificial intelligence researchers to parse humpback whale songs from background noise.
—Bloomberg, The Mercury News, 18 Mar. 2025
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Scott Travers, Forbes.com, 19 Apr. 2025
Sandy beaches and rocky coves are covered with curiosities to explore—from crabs and starfish in the tidepools to monarchs flying by and humpback whales breaching in the distance.
—Pismo Beach Conference and Visitor Bureau, Mercury News, 15 Apr. 2025
Years of barking at sea did not lure humpback whales to swim closer, until Saturday.
—Alexis Simendinger, The Hill, 7 Apr. 2025
The researchers relied on machine learning developed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Google artificial intelligence researchers to parse humpback whale songs from background noise.
—Bloomberg, The Mercury News, 18 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for humpback whale
Cite this Entry
“Humpback whale.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/humpback%20whale. Accessed 4 May. 2025.
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