from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Right whale \Right" whale`\ (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.
[1913 Webster]
{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.
[1913 Webster]