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minke whale

noun
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min·​ke whale | \ ˈmiŋ-kə- How to pronounce minke whale (audio) \
variants: or less commonly minke

Definition of minke whale

: a small gray to black baleen whale (genus Balaenoptera) with a whitish underside and a relatively narrow, pointed snout:
a : one (B. acutorostrata) chiefly of the northern hemisphere

— called also common minke whale, northern minke whale
b : one (B. bonaerensis) of the southern hemisphere that was formerly classified in the same species as the northern form

— called also Antarctic minke, southern minke whale

— see rorqual

Illustration of minke whale

Illustration of minke whale

Examples of minke whale in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Interspersed between our expeditions (and pivotal to the routine) was the captain’s gentle voice, cutting off conversations to share the sighting of a humpback whale waving its fluke or a minke whale coyly nudging up against the bow. — Danielle Bernabe, Fortune, "A first-person look at sailing through Antarctica amid climate change," 1 July 2020 The calls of minke whales, on the other hand, increased only marginally in the presence of loud noise. — Katherine Kornei, Science | AAAS, "Minke whales are struggling to communicate over the din of ocean noise," 18 Feb. 2020 Whale-watching income far outweighs the income from hunting fin and minke whales. — Joe Roman, The Conversation, "Iceland didn’t hunt any whales in 2019 – and public appetite for whale meat is fading," 21 Jan. 2020 Over Labor Day weekend, another dead minke whale washed up in Duxbury. — USA TODAY, "Disney surprise, foreign feral hogs, porous pavement: News from around our 50 states," 13 Sep. 2019 The International Union for Conservation of Nature, which sets the conservation status of species, doesn’t judge minke whales to be at risk. — Rachel Fobar, National Geographic, "Whale watching in Japan is on the rise, even as commercial hunts are set to resume," 15 Mar. 2019 Scientists are hoping to try the tag on other whales, such as humpbacks, minke whales and fin whales. — Amy Woodyatt, CNN, "A blue whale's heartbeat has been recorded for the first time - and the results are fascinating," 26 Nov. 2019 Japan is now openly taking minke whales in its coastal waters for commercial sales—which the commission would not have allowed—and then selling whale products domestically. — Dina Fine Maron, National Geographic, "Why Japan stopped some of its controversial whale hunts," 16 Aug. 2019 Five small boats set out from Japan’s northern port of Kushiro on Monday with a simple aim: to find and kill minke whales. — Adam Taylor, Washington Post, "Japan resumed commercial whaling after 31 years. New photos show what that looks like.," 1 July 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'minke whale.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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First Known Use of minke whale

1939, in the meaning defined above

History and Etymology for minke whale

partial translation of Norwegian minkehval, from minke- (perhaps from Meincke, a crewman of Svend Foyn †1894 Norwegian whaler) + hval whale

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The first known use of minke whale was in 1939

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Last Updated

15 Jul 2020

Cite this Entry

“Minke whale.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/minke%20whale. Accessed 4 Aug. 2020.

More from Merriam-Webster on minke whale

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about minke whale

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