humpback whale
nounDefinition of humpback whale
: a large baleen whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) that is black above and white below and has very long flippers, and fleshy tubercles along the snout
Illustration of humpback whale
Examples of humpback whale in a Sentence
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Many of these critters traverse California’s land, water and skies, including big-horn sheep, gray wolves, bald eagles and humpback whales. — Kurtis Alexander, SFChronicle.com, "Environmental groups sue Trump administration for weakening Endangered Species Act," 21 Aug. 2019 Crews of wildlife professionals and ordinary citizens were working to save a young humpback whale on Thursday that beached itself near Waldport on the Oregon coast, officials said. — oregonlive.com, "Rescue crews work to save young humpback whale stranded on Oregon beach," 15 Aug. 2019 Conservationists and some politicians decried the changes as a major rollback of the 46-year old law credited with saving the bald eagle, grizzly bear, humpback whale, American alligator and Florida manatee from extinction. — Darryl Fears, Anchorage Daily News, "New Trump administration rules would weaken Endangered Species Act," 12 Aug. 2019 Last month, a rescue team saved a migrating humpback whale ensnared in a shark net in the waters off the Gold Coast. — Fox News, "Double whale breach off Australia coast thrills tourists 'within meters' of scene," 17 July 2019 Aboard the research vessel Shearwater, Jooke Robbins—director of humpback whale research at the Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown, Massachusetts—loaded a crossbow with a dart, modified with a specialized tip and yellow float, and took aim. — Doug Johnson, Quartz, "Elephants and whales could give us the cure for cancer—unless we keep killing them," 14 Aug. 2019 This isn't the first time animals other than fish and krill have had the misfortune of accidentally ending up in the mouth of a humpback whale. — Author: Allyson Chiu, Anchorage Daily News, "‘Mind-blowing’ photo captures humpback whale with a sea lion in its mouth," 31 July 2019 Last week, a boater had a close encounter with a humpback whale who jumped out of the water near Gloucester. — Abbi Matheson, BostonGlobe.com, "Humpback whale spotted swimming through Cape Cod canal ‘highly unusual’," 19 July 2019 That’s akin to an eight-pound baby swelling to the size of a 40-ton humpback whale. — Christopher Ingraham, Washington Post, "Maggots: A taste of food’s future," 3 July 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'humpback whale.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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