Is Snowball, Beaufort County's albino dolphin, headed for a Hollywood movie?

Snowball the albino dolphin that wowed the world in the 1960s has once again left her Beaufort County home.

Some people say she may be off to take part in a Steven Spielberg movie about her remarkable life, but that is not confirmed.

This is a life-size fiberglass replica of the real, live Snowball that became one of the greatest pieces of local lore dashing through the waters of St. Helena Sound in the 1950s.

She was such a stunning animal that she was captured and taken away in what locals called "porpoise pirating" and a "dirty shame."

Snowball and her offspring, Sonny Boy, were netted in 1962 on the northern fringe of St. Helena Sound by the staff of the Miami Seaquarium.

Three million people came to see her there before she died of natural causes in 1965.

National Geographic and Life magazines wrote her story. Pat Conroy put her in his novel "Prince of Tides," but in his tale Snowball was rescued by kids and returned to her native waters.

Snowball — also called Carolina Snowball or Peaches — didn't make the "Prince of Tides" movie, but she was featured on "Flipper" and that's how her long route home to Beaufort County began many years ago.

She fascinated a kid from the chilly northeast, Kevin Vanacore, who ended up collecting boxes of Snowball memorabilia. It influenced his life, he said, to become a marine biologist and dolphin trainer. Even on the north side of 60, he still sees the world through the pink eyes of old Snowball.

The pursuit of Snowball would net him a Mold-A-Rama wax casting of Snowball, that kids could see formed before their very eyes in a coin-operated machine at the Miami Seaquarium.

But in the pursuit of Snowball, he made a more important discovery. He found that a replica had been made of Snowball after her death. The snow white, 9-foot, 200-pound body of Snowball thrilled Seaquarium guests even after the death. It contained actual parts of Snowball — her cranium, jaw and ebony teeth.

Thus began another hunt for Snowball. This time it was Vanacore chasing the replica. He said that in that search he learned that Snowball had indeed escaped the park — when the replica was washed into Biscayne Bay by the surge of Hurricane Andrew. She was found, and returned to a storage area at the park, he said. In 2000, Vanacore made an arrangement that gave him that rare piece of Lowcountry and world natural history.

It lived in his garage until 2012 when he had the replica refurbished. Then he looked for an appropriate home for Snowball, a place that would help her teach the value of our natural resources.

I thought it was a perfect marriage when the Snowball replica was wheeled into the new Port Royal Sound Maritime Center on S.C. 170 at the Chechessee River, between Beaufort and Hilton Head Island. That was in 2014. A large exhibit on Snowball was featured in the center, which strives to educate people on the sensitive nature of our unique environment and how and why we need to keep the Port Royal Sound pristine.

But now, Snowball is gone.

Vanacore always owned the replica, and he came to get it last summer.

"I am working on a project involving Carolina Snowball but I’m not able to give any details at this time," he said in an email.

By phone he explained that with this project on the West Coast, he needed to have Snowball in his possession again. She has been taken to California to be modeled for computerized animation, he said. Now she's back home in Florida.

But he also had some grievances with the center.

"I feel that I provided the museum with the best and most interesting exhibit to date," he wrote. "That effort did not even earn me a spot on their mailing or emailing list? There were many great events at the museum that I never had the opportunity to attend. My last visit to the museum while the dolphins were still there revealed a plaque adjacent to the Snowball exhibit with the name of a family that was given the credit for sponsoring the snowball exhibit."

He said the real reason Snowball has moved was for the project, and he does not want this to be a "sour grapes" story. But he said the replica of Snowball and a likeness of Sonny Boy, would not be returning.

Dick Stewart, who spearheaded creation of the Port Royal Sound Foundation and the maritime center, said, "As I understand it, Kevin is working with a Hollywood celeb filmmaker on a movie about Snowball's story. I doubt she will return but we wish him well. "

In an email exchange, Stewart said he did not know all the details on the Snowball situation, but added, "I regret that Kevin may feel slighted. I'm thrilled with the progress the Maritime Center has made in the three years since it opened. I thank Kevin for his loan but I also know that as a young organization with many volunteers, it requires decisions that may not satisfy everyone.

"The goal of the Port Royal Sound Foundation is to educate people about the Sound and to get them engaged. Snowball is a wonderful story but the future of the Sound and the people and creatures it serves is THE STORY. We at the Port Royal Sound Foundation are very proud to help tell that story."

Today, Snowball hangs in a "beach bar/boathouse" designed to be like the Soggy Dollar Bar in the Virgin Islands. It is at Vanacore's home in Florida.

Beneath Snowball is a Boston Whaler boat like the one she was rolled into when she was captured and rushed to her new life in Miami. Behind her is a hammerhead shark, like one that took a chunk out of Snowball's tail.

And Vanacore says, "There are good things in the works for Carolina Snowball.

"The last chapter may not have been written yet."

This story was originally published March 29, 2018 at 11:14 AM with the headline "Is Snowball, Beaufort County's albino dolphin, headed for a Hollywood movie?."