Baleen whale

A baleen whale was an aquatic animal that lived in the oceans of planet Earth. Of the cetacean order, the whale was classified as a mammal.

Baleen whales, such as the humpback whale and blue whale, were filter feeders and, instead of teeth, had huge plates of baleen hanging from their upper jaw which they used to strain plankton and shrimp out of mouthfuls of seawater.

They were once hunted for their meat, blubber and baleen, and most of the species were extinct by the 23rd century. 

In the year 2381, Lieutenant Aili Lavena, of the Federation starship USS Titan, likened the Sentry SecondGen Cyan-Gray to a feeding baleen whale as the Sentry's tractor field gathered fragments of SecondGen White-Blue's destroyed ship frame. 

Baleen whale species

 * Blue whale
 * Fin whale
 * Gray whale
 * Humpback whale
 * Minke whale
 * Right whale
 * Sei whale