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Right whale   Listen
noun
Right whale  n.  (Zool.)
(a)
The bowhead, Arctic, or Greenland whale (Balaena mysticetus), from whose mouth the best whalebone is obtained.
(b)
Any other whale that produces valuable whalebone, as the Atlantic, or Biscay, right whale (Balaena cisarctica), and the Pacific right whale (Balaena Sieboldii); a bone whale.
Pygmy right whale (Zool.), a small New Zealand whale (Neobalaena marginata) which is only about sixteen feet long. It produces short, but very elastic and tough, whalebone.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Right whale" Quotes from Famous Books



... Carolines, told him that on one occasion when he was coming from the shore to his ship, which was lying to off the Chatham Islands, the boat was followed by a pack of five killers. They swam within touch of the oars, much to the amusement of the crew, and presently several of what are called "right whale" porpoises made their appearance, racing along ahead of the boat, whereupon Captain Allen went for'ard and picked up a harpoon, for the flesh of this rare variety of porpoise is highly prized. The moment he struck the fish it set off at a ...
— A Memory Of The Southern Seas - 1904 • Louis Becke

... it is called pico, but is also esteemed a great delicacy in the markets of Valparaiso and Santiago. Oysters of excellent flavour are found in the sheltered waters of Chiloe. The Cetacea, which frequent these southern waters, are represented by four species—two dolphins and the sperm and right whale—and the Phocidae by six species, one of which (Phoca lupina) differs but little from the common seal. Another species (Macrorhinus leoninus), popularly known as the sea-elephant, is provided with short tusks ...
— Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 2 - "Chicago, University of" to "Chiton" • Various

... and amongst the latter we meet with remains of Dolphins and of Whales of the "Zeuglodont" family. We may also note here the first appearance of true "Whalebone Whales," two species of which, resembling the living "Right Whale" of Arctic seas, and belonging to the same genus (Baloena), have been detected in the Miocene ...
— The Ancient Life History of the Earth • Henry Alleyne Nicholson



Words linked to "Right whale" :   baleen whale, whalebone whale



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