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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During their expeditions, the men captured footage of Malayan tigers, Javan rhinos, Gobi bears, Caucasian leopards, North Atlantic right whales, and western lowland gorillas.
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Kelli Bender, People.com, 11 July 2025
The House Natural Resources Committee has also suggested weakening the Marine Mammal Protection Act with an apparent intent to unravel protections for species like the North Atlantic right whale and the Gulf of Mexico Rice’s whale.
—Christine Peterson, Wired News, 5 July 2025
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.
—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
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Kelli Bender, People.com, 11 July 2025
The House Natural Resources Committee has also suggested weakening the Marine Mammal Protection Act with an apparent intent to unravel protections for species like the North Atlantic right whale and the Gulf of Mexico Rice’s whale.
—Christine Peterson, Wired News, 5 July 2025
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.
—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
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 20 Aug. 2025.
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