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

Word History and Origins

Origin of blue whale¹

First recorded in 1850–55

Example Sentences

Sea slugs, corals, clams and sponges may not get as much of the spotlight as blue whales or sharks, but these curious creatures come with a host of unique, hard-to-believe abilities.

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Jake, nestled into his sleeping bag on a cot underneath the museum's gigantic suspended model of a blue whale, said he was "so happy to be here."

Read more on Barron's

He was shown the rest of the process including a DNA extraction machine that produces the DNA code sequence that allows the team to identify everything from bacteria to a blue whale.

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If you don’t get around to chasing whales this winter, blue whales and fin whales swim through the same coastal waters May through November, and humpback and minke whales may be seen year-round.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Armed with binoculars and a telephoto camera, they watch the cobalt waters for one of its great treasures - pygmy blue whales.

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