IT IS said that the blue whale lights up the sea. Now, Australian scientists have turned to sound to illuminate the hidden lives of the few remaining largest animals on earth.

Devastated by 20th century industrial whaling, the blue is seldom seen today. When it does appear, the way the giant's skin brightens surrounding ocean still transfixes those who see it.

''What's fantastic is when it rises for a breath,'' Mike Double, a zoologist at the Australian Marine Mammal Centre, said. ''You see this blue glow, this beautiful turquoise blue glow, under the water before they surface. That's the most magical thing.''

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