Dolphin chosen over whale in compromise

SUMTER — The cheers were so loud that the students yelling could hear each other in classrooms across the hall. But their project to name the right whale the state marine mammal taught the kids at Alice Drive Elementary School a rough lesson in legislative politics.

A five-month arm wrestle among state legislators over whether to name the whale or the bottlenose dolphin was settled quietly in a compromise between Sen. Phil Leventis, D-Sumter, and Sen. Chip Campsen, R-Charleston, that went to the governor's desk among a last minute flurry of bills. On Wednesday the dolphin was named the state marine mammal — as Campsen had asked in a bill that countered Leventis' bill calling for the whale to be named. The whale was named the state migratory marine mammal.

The compromise was a little bit of last-week-of-school vindication for the disillusioned students, who were stunned to see a yearlong project to name the whale harpooned by the counter bill, then stymied in committee. But it didn't make up for the disappointment.

"It was amazing, just the thought that one little school going through this big ordeal of naming a marine mammal. When I heard about the compromise I said, 'Uh-oh. We did all this work for nothing.' But at least it got its name," said fifth-grader Saibryn Hyatt.

"We couldn't believe Charleston would do that to us. We worked so hard on it," said fifth-grader Granger Rabon, who took a lead role in the project.

"I just clapped, said fifth-grader Michaela Wrenn, who wrote a letter to state senators defending the kids' bill. "I'm excited that they compromised and they didn't argue any more. I'm happy they gave the whale something."

Campsen introduced his bill after the State Ports Authority balked at language in the bill designating the whale. Ports were in the middle of whale-related controversies, such as a federal ship slowdown rule to protect the right whale during its winter migration into the Southeast.

"My position was driven not by the Ports Authority but by my lifetime experience in the marine ecosystem," Campsen said. He lives on Isle of Palms. "If we're going to have a marine mammal it should be one that is endemic to the state."

The right whale is the mammoth of the Atlantic, a 40-ton, 50-foot-long creature that whalers nearly wiped out in the 19th century. As the legislative tug-of-war yanked away, the critically endangered species had a record breeding year in the Southeast; 39 calves were spotted by aerial surveys. Off South Carolina, 121 individual whales were spotted — nearly a third of the known population.

Meanwhile, back on land, Gov. Mark Sanford let the designations become law without signing the bills when they reached his desk. He applauded the school kids' effort in a letter but said, "this bill does highlight the ways in which the General Assembly missed opportunities this year to tackle more pressing issues facing our state."

Campsen said the issue wasn't very important, but added, "the notion that this somehow blocked other important things from happening is incorrect."

Reach Bo Petersen at 843-937-5744 or bpetersen@postandcourier.com.