How did Flipper die? Why did Flipper kill himself?

Kathy was a bottlenose dolphin who was trained for the 1960s TV show Flipper. She was taken from the wild and brought into captivity to work as a series performer for the rest of her life.

She spent numerous hours on stage, but once her acting career was ended, she retreated to a small chamber within the Miami Seaquarium. It was here that she became miserable and depressed.

While Flipper appeared to be one dolphin throughout the show’s run on television in the 1960s, the show included numerous dolphins. Kathy, the show’s main character was one of five dolphins who appeared in the series.

Kathy made a strong statement near the end of her life. Ric O’Barry, Kathy’s captor and trainer, was brought in to check her after she began to show indications of illness. When he arrived, he discovered Kathy was far sicker than anyone had anticipated.

She swam into his arms and completely stopped breathing – she took her last breath and kept it even after her trainer grabbed her to hold her. She fell to the bottom of the tank as he let her go, and when he pulled her to the surface, she was dead.