Illustration of fin whale
fin whale
noun
: a baleen whale (Balaenoptera physalus) that may attain a length of over 70 feet (21 meters) and is found chiefly in subtropical to arctic and antarctic waters worldwide
called also finback
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web In 2018 and 2019, the researchers returned to the Antarctic Peninsula for the first dedicated study of the fin whale population. 
New York Times, 7 July 2022 Newport Beach reports seeing 200 common dolphins and two fin whales on May 22, and one fin whale, 300 common dolphins and 200 offshore bottlenose dolphins on May 21. Mary Forgione, Los Angeles Times, 26 May 2022 Given the fin whale’s life span of around 90 years, the memory of that threat may still affect their collective behavior, such as avoiding gathering in large groups. Erika Page, The Christian Science Monitor, 11 Mar. 2022 The acoustic library is already being used by researchers at the University of Concepción in Chile to compare blue and fin whale vocalizations over time and at different sites. The Christian Science Monitor, 24 Jan. 2022 Preliminary necropsy results show that a young fin whale that beached itself and died at Cape Henlopen State Park last week was riddled with parasites. From Usa Today Network And Wire Reports, USA TODAY, 28 June 2016 In addition, the carcasses of a pygmy sperm whale and a fin whale also have been found ashore. Winston Gieseke, USA TODAY, 25 May 2021 So far in 2021, 10 gray whales, one pygmy sperm whale and one fin whale were reported dead on San Francisco Bay Area shores, according to the California Academy of Sciences. Vanessa Arredondo, San Francisco Chronicle, 23 May 2021 Pushed and pulled by competing winds and currents in the Pacific, the carcass of an endangered fin whale recently struck by an Australian warship drifted back toward shore and washed up in Huntington Beach, making for an imposing, putrid spectacle. Kristina Davis, San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 May 2021 See More
New York Times, 7 July 2022 Newport Beach reports seeing 200 common dolphins and two fin whales on May 22, and one fin whale, 300 common dolphins and 200 offshore bottlenose dolphins on May 21. Mary Forgione, Los Angeles Times, 26 May 2022 Given the fin whale’s life span of around 90 years, the memory of that threat may still affect their collective behavior, such as avoiding gathering in large groups. Erika Page, The Christian Science Monitor, 11 Mar. 2022 The acoustic library is already being used by researchers at the University of Concepción in Chile to compare blue and fin whale vocalizations over time and at different sites. The Christian Science Monitor, 24 Jan. 2022 Preliminary necropsy results show that a young fin whale that beached itself and died at Cape Henlopen State Park last week was riddled with parasites. From Usa Today Network And Wire Reports, USA TODAY, 28 June 2016 In addition, the carcasses of a pygmy sperm whale and a fin whale also have been found ashore. Winston Gieseke, USA TODAY, 25 May 2021 So far in 2021, 10 gray whales, one pygmy sperm whale and one fin whale were reported dead on San Francisco Bay Area shores, according to the California Academy of Sciences. Vanessa Arredondo, San Francisco Chronicle, 23 May 2021 Pushed and pulled by competing winds and currents in the Pacific, the carcass of an endangered fin whale recently struck by an Australian warship drifted back toward shore and washed up in Huntington Beach, making for an imposing, putrid spectacle. Kristina Davis, San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 May 2021 See More Word History
First Known Use
1885, in the meaning defined above