Jocelyn Butts, age lI, of West Vancouver, B.C., Canada, for her question:

Do whales really sing?

In the world of nature, this may be the news item of the decade. We do indeed have proof that the giant whale utters music in the deep ocean    and that his series of notes do indeed sound like a lovely song. And a dedicated team of marine biologists chose to demonstrate their proof when and where it should have done some good. This was at an international committee meeting to decide how many whales of this or that species could be killed by whalers of this or that country. The rest of the informed world already knows that the great whales already are reduced almost to extinction.

The marine biologists had let down their hydrophones 250 fathoms and recorded the song of a humpbacked whale on tape. That hard hearted committee listened to the lovely music that spanned six tuneful octaves. No, they did not there and then decide to outlaw all hunting of the gentle giants    or even change their plans. Perhaps they were tone deaf, or perhaps they did not want to hear the sweet voices of their victims.