N.C. legislators come up short on ‘wildlife’ designations

Once again, members of the North Carolina General Assembly left Raleigh without approving legislation to recognize and pay tribute to three “coastal inhabitants” that are iconic species in “our world.”

Bills were introduced in the 2025 session seeking to designate the bottlenose dolphin, osprey and loggerhead sea turtle as “official ambassadors” of North Carolina. 

However, all three bills failed to make it across the finish line.

Various coastal legislators have been working for at least a decade to honor this “trifecta of coastal critters” that are more than deserving. Here’s a bit of what transpired in the latest go-round at the General Assembly:

Sen. Bobby Hanig, R-Powells Point, was quick out of the box to introduce S.B. 15 on Jan. 29 to name the bottlenose dolphin as the official “North Carolina Marine Mammal.” 

Sen. Hanig represents a lot of coastal geography, including Bertie, Camden, Currituck, Dare, Gates, Hertford, Northampton, Pasquotank, Perquimans and Tyrrell counties.

“These dolphins are abundant along North Carolina’s coastline,” Sen. Hanig said. “Their curved mouth gives the appearance that they are always smiling. Usually gray in color, dolphins range in length from 6 to 13 feet. They are marine mammals that travel in groups up to 10 or 15, called pods.”

 

S.B. 15 was promptly referred to the Committee on Rules and Operations of the Senate for further consideration. Unfortunately, Sen. Hanig’s bill never saw the light of day during the legislative session.

That’s a shame and rather perplexing, because Sen. Bill Rabon, R-Southport, is chair of Rules and Operations. North Carolina’s southernmost coastline is within his district, which includes Brunswick, Columbus and New Hanover counties.

 

Two key members of Rules and Operations who should have influence with Sen. Rabon are Sen. Michael Lazzara, R-Jacksonville, who represents Onslow County (shown below at top), and Sen. Norman Sanderson, R-Minnesott Beach (shown below at bottom), whose district encompasses another boatload of water-based counties – Carteret, Chowan, Halifax, Hyde, Martin, Pamlico, Warren and Washington.

 

Something is starting to smell a bit fishy here.

Carteret County’s delegate in the state House of Representatives is Rep. Celeste Cairns, R-Emerald Isle. She introduced H.B. 597 to adopt the osprey as the official “North Carolina Raptor” on March 31.

 

“Ospreys are majestic birds that stand up to 26 inches tall and have wingspans that measure up to 6 feet,” Rep. Cairns said. “Ospreys are diurnal birds of prey that hunt during daylight hours when they use their keen eyesight to focus on locating fish just below the surface of the water. 

 

“They are the only raptors that plunge feet first to grasp fish with their specially equipped talons. Thus, they have earned the reputation as being ‘fishermen of the seas.’”

H.B. 597 was approved in the House on May 7 on a 111-0 vote. Rep. Cairns’ bill was referred to Sen. Rabon’s Senate committee, where it was neglected. Another huge disappointment. 

Why are these bills being scuttled?

The most curious development from the recent legislative session, however, involved H.B. 441 to designate the loggerhead sea turtle as the official “North Carolina Saltwater Reptile.” This bill was filed on March 18 by Rep. Frank Iler, R-Calabash, of Brunswick County.

 

“The loggerhead is the most common sea turtle found along the coast of North Carolina,” Rep. Iler said. “Female loggerheads return each nesting season to dig nests containing 100 or more eggs. Hatchlings generally begin to appear about 60 days later.”

 

H.B. 441 was approved 113-0 on May 7 and went to the Senate, where it, too, was assigned to Sen. Rabon’s committee.

What happened next to H.B. 441 led to the recent “Shrimpgate” debacle. Stay tuned.