blue whale

[ bloo hweyl, weyl ]

noun

1. a migratory baleen whale, Balaenoptera musculus, mostly of oceans and seas in the Southern Hemisphere, the largest mammal ever known, growing to a length of 100 feet (30.5 meters) and having a furrowed, slate-blue skin mottled with lighter spots, in some seas acquiring a yellowish coating of diatoms on the underside: now classified as endangered, it was once hunted nearly to extinction, but international conservation efforts begun in the 1960s have enabled the blue whale population to rebound significantly.

blue whale

noun

1. the largest mammal: a widely distributed bluish-grey whalebone whale, Sibbaldus (or Balaenoptera ) musculus , closely related and similar to the rorquals: family Balaenopteridae Also calledsulphur-bottom

Word History and Origins

Origin of blue whale¹

First recorded in 1850–55

Example Sentences

In 2004, a blue whale died and washed up on a beach in downtown Monterey.

From Science News For Students

Only male blue whales are known to sing, but both sexes move southward at about the same time each year.

From Popular-Science

Potentially we could give some advance notice to folks managing these ecosystems in southern California that, hey, we’re hearing the blue whales start to migrate south, you might have a lot of them showing up here quite soon.

From Popular-Science

Predicting whale movements via their songs may be particularly useful for this blue whale population, which is commonly struck by shipping vessels, Oestreich says.

From Science News

During the summer feeding season in high latitudes, male blue whales tend to sing at night.

From Science News

In general, the head is intermediate in shape between that of the blue whale and that of the fin whale.

From Project Gutenberg

The top of the head is flat, though slightly less than that of the blue whale.

From Project Gutenberg

The rostrum is narrower and more V-shaped than that of the blue whale and has the same sort of single distinctive head ridge.

From Project Gutenberg

The head is quite broad and rounded, somewhat like that of the blue whale.

From Project Gutenberg

The only other rorqual to do so—the blue whale—raises the flukes slightly or not at all.

From Project Gutenberg