The phrase "tail flukes" refers to the two large, flat parts at the end of a whale's tail. These flukes help the whale swim by pushing against the water.
Sentences with «tail flukes»
Researchers at the Cascadia Research Collective in Olympia, Washington, tracked seven whales — which they recognized by the markings on their tail flukes — from their summer feeding grounds in the Antarctic Ocean to their winter breeding grounds off the Pacific coast of Central America. (discovermagazine.com)
For example, researchers can recognize individual humpback whales because each whale has a unique black - and - white pattern on the underside of its tail flukes. (scientificamerican.com)
Sometimes they slap their tail flukes on the surface, frightening their fishy prey so they school, making the fish easier to eat. (sciencenews.org)