Sherman Fever, age 12, of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, for his question:

What is a sea canary?

You might expect him to be a midget because our sweet singing canary bird is such a small person. Not at all. He is a mighty giant, 18 feet long, and he belongs to the cool waters of the Arctic and northern oceans. However, he is not a fish and naturally he is not related to the feathery bird world. No doubt you have used these clues to guess that the sea canary is a whale. Correct. He also is known as the beluga or the white whale    and he is a born singer.

Tastes in music differ and everybody has his or her personal opinion about what sounds delightful. To Andy's old ears, the most delightful sound in the world comes from a flock of happy children at play. It so happens that reliable observers say that very similar sounds are made by the sea canary and his kinsolk. He is, they say, the noisiest of all the gabby whales with perhaps the widest range of words and sounds. And all his utterances are made under water.

Another remarkable feature is his color, which one might term as integrated. He is a black baby, a speckled black and white teenager and as he reaches adulthood his skin turns to the color of glistening snow. This is why he is called the white whale or the beluga, which means white. This color helps his massive body to blend with the ice floes adrift in his Arctic and northern oceans.

Like most members of the whale clan, he shares his ocean going life with a group of his kinfolk. Marine biologists have recorded his remarkable vocal range with hydrophones    and report that a group of beluga whales is just about the noisiest community in the world ocean. Their normal conversation includes a wide range of whoops and hollers, squeaks and squeals, punctuated with an assortment of gruff phutts and phutt phutts. This medley reminds some observers of an orchestra tuning up the instruments before the main event,

At other times, the beluga choir resounds with bell like notes and resonant moos, with playful whistles and lyrical soprano trills. This is when the white whale deserves to be called the sea canary. This is when the talented family reminds some people of a joyful glee club    and other people think of a joyous troupe of children at play.

As we know, all the great whales have been plundered without sense or mercy and now rate high on the list of endangered species. Some say that the great blue baleen whale is likely to become extinct. Every year, an international committee meets to limit the taking of certain species, though whaling still is permitted. The sweet singing belugas are reduced in numbers    and let's hope that people come to their senses beofre their joyous glee clubs are silenced forever.