Is Flipper a real dolphin?
Subsequently, one may also ask, is Flipper the dolphin still alive?
TV star `Flipper' dies in Miami. Bebe, the last of seven bottlenose dolphins (left) that starred in the Flipper television series, has died. She was 40. The dolphin died "of old age" last week at the Miami Seaquarium where she was born in 1956; Atlantic bottlenose dolphins typically live 25 to 35 years.
One may also ask, was Flipper a dolphin or a porpoise?
Flipper was a bottlenose dolphin, the same species that charms the coasts of Virginia and North Carolina by the thousands during the warmer months of the year. Dolphins and porpoises have about the same color pattern, but dolphins can grow to 12 feet in length while porpoises are typically a few feet shorter.
The film Flipper had been released in 1963, and the spin-off TV series ran from 1964 to 1967. After that, Suzy retired and remained in the Miami Seaquarium where she was looked after by O'Barry. He had started to notice her unhappiness, however, and when she died in his arms, he was convinced she'd committed suicide.