Rhonda Mareden, Age 12, Of Boise, Ida., For her question:

Why is a whale called a mammal?

We tend to think that all the creatures of the sea are fishes, but this is far from true. The octopus and the lobster, the oyster and even the starfish are riot true fishes. There are even ocean going mammals, such as the whale, the dolphin and the porpoise. They are mammals, because their babies are born alive and fed on mother's milk.

All the mammal animals are warm blooded, air breathing animals with skins that grow hair. Some, like the whale, however, produce only a few bristly hairs. The baby whale is born alive, near the surface where he can gasp his first breath. Then he learns to feed on mother's milk, just like a young mammal pig or dog, cat or rabbit.