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

Hunted nearly to extinction during 20th century whaling, the Antarctic blue whale, the world's largest animal, went from a population size of roughly 200,000 to little more than 300.

From Science Daily

It is bigger than a blue whale, the team say.

From BBC

Fin whales are the second largest animals on Earth after the blue whale.

From Los Angeles Times

She and her colleagues also filmed an Antarctic blue whale mother and calf - the biggest animals on Earth - feeding in the same area.

From BBC

But unlike other species of whales — such as humpbacks, gray whales and blue whales — populations of the North Pacific right whale have been much slower to recover.

From Seattle Times