baleen

n. whalebone

Baleen makes up baleen plates, which are arranged in two parallel rows that look like combs of thick hair; they are attached to the upper jaws of baleen whales. It is composed of keratin, which is the same substance that makes up human hair and nails. Whales use these combs for filter feeding. Whales are the only vertebrate group to use this method of feeding in great abundance (flamingos and crabeater seals use similar methods, but do not have baleen), and it has allowed them to grow to immense sizes. The Blue Whale, the largest animal ever to live, is a baleen whale, It is also referred to as 'blasko'.
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Noun
1. a horny material from the upper jaws of certain whales; used as the ribs of fans or as stays in corsets
(synonym) whalebone
(hypernym) horn

v. (Latin America) shoot, fire a weapon

(n.)
Plates or blades of "whalebone," from two to twelve feet long, and sometimes a foot wide, which in certain whales (Balaenoidea) are attached side by side along the upper jaw, and form a fringelike sieve by which the food is retained in the mouth.