right whale

noun

|Updated on: 28 Jul 2018

Definition of right whale

: 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

Recent Examples of right whale from the Web

Gray whales are only found in the Pacific Ocean these days, and the few remaining North Atlantic right whales hang out along the coast of the U.S.

— jason daley, Smithsonian, "Romans May Have Hunted Whales to Extinction in Their Home Waters," 11 July 2018
Out of San Francisco, the Ocean Society made a trip to the Farallon Islands and sighted 15 humpback whales, five blue whales, one minke whale, 70 Risso’s dolphins, five northern right whale dolphins, and 80 Pacific white-sided dolphins.

— tom stienstra, SFChronicle.com, "Chart-buster times: salmon to whales, bears to bighorns," 8 July 2018
The North Atlantic right whale, for example, reaches over 50 feet in length and is one of the most endangered cetaceans on the planet.

— brian switek, Smithsonian, "Today’s Whales Are Huge, But Why Aren’t They Huger?," 27 June 2018
Federal authorities have extended a ban on trap gear closures for part of Cape Cod Bay to reduce the risk of right whales becoming entangled in trap gear.

— shannon tompkins, Houston Chronicle, "TPW Commission reconsidering its approval of air-powered guns, bows," 6 May 2018
Last year, 17 right whales died — and that’s just those that researchers know of, Mayo said.

— laney ruckstuhl, BostonGlobe.com, "Vessels off Boston asked to slow down after right whale sightings," 3 May 2018
North Atlantic right whales are so strange-looking that early sailors sometimes took them for sea monsters.

— sarah kaplan, Washington Post, "These whales will be extinct in 25 years, scientists say — unless we act now to save them," 20 Apr. 2018
Scientists estimate only about 450 North Atlantic right whales remain, and the species suffered terribly in 2017.

— russ bynum, chicagotribune.com, "'Beginning of the end?' No new babies for endangered whales," 26 Mar. 2018
A century ago, humans had slaughtered nearly every right whale in the Atlantic.

— sarah kaplan, Washington Post, "These whales will be extinct in 25 years, scientists say — unless we act now to save them," 20 Apr. 2018

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