gray whale
3
3.5
- noun
- /ɡreɪ weɪl/
- US
:
ballena gris
- Chris said, "There was a gray whale that came here for several years that had no flukes on its tail.
Connect, a group of whale watchers off the coast of California, recently saw a Gray whale give birth to a calf right next to their boat.
- Connect, a group of whale watchers off the coast of California, recently saw a Gray whale give birth to a calf right next to their boat.
Examples
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Governor... three gray whales are trapped off the coast of Barrow... and we were wondering if you could help us.
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Gray whales play an important role in Arctic ecosystems because they bulldoze shallow sediments while feeding on benthic amphipods.
Academic text (2008) -
In Northern Alaska, winter comes very early... and for three California gray whales, it may have come too early this year.
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And at one point, the grey whale mother was trying to shelter under our boat.
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Those three California gray whales... trapped in the Arctic ice off Alaska are no nearer to freedom tonight.
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NMFS estimates there are now 21,000 gray whales off California and in the rest of the eastern North Pacific.
Academic text (1993) -
A family of three gray whales... have found themselves trapped in the icy waters off Point Barrow.
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Enjoy the gray whales swimming offshore, the California condors flying overhead, and sea otters relaxing in kelp beds.
Blog text (27) -
This three-month-old baby is new to the open sea, and the mother gray whale swims slowly, protecting her offspring as they glide through the Arctic waters.
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In the icy waters of Alaska, the mother gray whale swam closely to her calf, teaching it how to navigate the frigid ocean.
Synonyms
A medium-sized gray whale that lives in the northern Pacific
A medium-sized whale called the gray whale that lives in the northern Pacific Ocean
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'gray' (color) + 'whale' (marine mammal) yields a whale that is gray, i.e. the described species. This descriptive compound pattern is cross-linguistically common for animal names, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
The name gray whale comes from the animal's color: the big whale often has pale, spotted skin that looks gray, so the name came to mean 'the large gray whale found in the northern Pacific'.