sons, Sandy (15) and Bud (10). Flipper lives in a lagoon near the Ricks cottage at Coral Key Park and Marine Preserve. With the Ricks family, Flipper helps protect the park and preserve and its wild inhabitants. He is also instrumental in apprehending criminals and thugs in the park. Flipper is generally recognized by the characters in the show (and the theme song) as being a particularly intelligent and capable dolphin. Flipper is the special companion of the youngest member of the Ricks family, Bud, and several episodes feature Flipper rescuing Bud from dangerous situations. Flipper is able to somehow communicate through different chatter-like tones, head nods and shakes, and other attention-seeking antics with Sandy and Bud, and draw their (and Porter's) attention to danger or in the direction of people needing help. Few women are in the lives of the Ricks males, but in the first season, Porter does have a date, and Sandy falls for the girl operator of a floating zoo, who appears in four episodes. A female oceanographer enters the series in the second season to add a feminine touch to the proceedings, but little more than mild flirtations and fondness between Porter and her ensues. Promotional material for the third season announced a new girlfriend for Sandy, although she only appeared in one episode, and he has an innocently flirtatious scene with another girl in a separate episode. The series is distinguished for its lush photography of subtropical Florida and its colorful underwater sequences. Episodes Cancellation and subsequent history The last first-run episode of Flipper aired April 15, 1967. In the conclusion of a two-part episode, the characters of Sandy and Bud are written out of the show (by that time, both Halpin and Norden had grown out of their roles), as it is detailed how each plans to leave Coral Key — Sandy has been accepted to the Coast Guard Academy in Connecticut, and Bud will be attending a private school remedially in Massachusetts, as arranged by their Aunt Martha. At the same time, a new family (the Whitmans) moves to the area: a widowed mother (portrayed by Karen Steele) and her young son and daughter (portrayed by Stuart Getz and Chris Charney). The two new children are depicted as unfamiliar with maritime life, but they promptly befriend Flipper, and promise to be his new companions after Sandy and Bud leave. Plans were made