There’s a new Lancelot and Elaine swimming in Lake LaVerne. They’re mute, they have orange beaks instead of black, and they’re more content in the water than wandering around campus streets.

Oh, and they’re both male.

Iowa State’s new mute swans, which were transported to their new home Tuesday afternoon, are replacing the old Lancelot and Elaine, two trumpeter swans that some ISU officials felt were a little too feisty to reside in Lake LaVerne.

The old Lancelot and Elaine were captured with two big nets by Department of Natural Resource officials Tuesday before the horde of media and camera crews showed up to tape the changing of the swans.

The new Lancelot and Elaine were released out of their plastic cage with plenty of cameras snapping. They waddled to the edge of Lake LaVerne, hopped in the water and swam to the other side, avoiding about 15 people who were observing their homecoming.

Evan M. Kennedy was one of the people closely watching the new swans. Kennedy takes care of the swans for Gene Barrick, who has a ranch at Webster City. Kennedy is the new owner of the old Lancelot and Elaine.

“It looks like they might have found a new home without any trouble,” Kennedy said proudly as he watched the swans make their rounds of the lake. “They’re pretty nice, I think, but I’m prejudiced.”

One of the problems with the trumpeter swans was that, besides occasionally being too aggressive, they had a tendency to wander away from the lake.

Ron Andrews, state trumpeter swan restoration coordinator for the DNR, said because of the physical make-up of the new mute swans, they should be more water-bound.

However, as evidenced by the two times the mute swans briefly left the lake after their Tuesday release, this might not always be the case.

“These birds are really built to be on water instead of land,” Andrews said. “I guess time will tell.”

Kennedy was optimistic that the 2-year-old swans, who are brothers from a litter of six, won’t go roaming too far.

“You never know what is going to happen. I hope they’ll stay in the water,” he said.

Andrews said he wasn’t pleased with the swan-switch. Mute swans aren’t native to the state of Iowa like trumpeter swans are, and he said introducing an exotic species to ISU seems counter-productive.

Also, mute swans aren’t necessarily kinder, gentler swans. “They can be as aggressive as some of the trumpeter swans,” Andrews said, adding that he’s been bitten by mute swans before. “They can be every bit as temperamental … the idea was to have some low-key swans that are compatible with each other. Time will tell.”

Kathleen Block, president of the ISU Trumpeter Swan Restoration Committee, also voiced her disappointment of the new Lancelot and Elaine. When asked what she thought of the newer versions, she shrugged and said, “Well, they’re mute swans.”

Block, junior in animal science, said the trumpeter swans’ removal “really takes away” from her organization’s mission, although she said she can see the other side of the issue.

However, Steve Sullivan, spokesman for ISU, said the new swans should work out just fine.

“They took right to the water, and now they’re tanning themselves on the shore,” he said, watching the swans walk around the lake.

Sullivan said the old swans were problematic, and the new Lancelot and Elaine are the beginning of a new era for ISU. And, he said, the fact that they’re both males does not take away from university tradition.

“It’s so much a part of the university that you have two swans on a lake named Lancelot and Elaine, and it doesn’t matter that … they’re both boys.”