Birthdate: 1962
Captured: 1969?
Arrived to Kolmården Zoo: 1969
Deceased: August 5th 2003
Cause of death: kidney problems
Relatives: the daughters Sisu (deceased), Luna, Ariel, Lyra & Daphne (deceased), the sons Fenix (deceased), Lotus, Dino & Max (deceased), the granddaughter Fenah and the grandson Sting
Flip was the most famous dolphin that ever had lived at Kolmården
Zoo. He arrived to Kolmården already when the dolphinarium was inaugurated in
1969, when he was 6 years old. He was flown to Kolmården in a rebuild bomb
plane and he was one of the three first dolphins that arrived at Kolmården.
Flip was the father of all the dolphins that were born at Kolmården between 1994 and 2001;
Luna, Lyra, Ariel, Daphne, Lotus, Fenix, Max & Dino nad is probably also the father of Penny, who was born at Kolmården in 1977, and Vindy, born at Kolmården in 1991. He was the star of the
dolphinarium and he did behaviours in the show that the other dolphins couldn’t
do. His favourite female was Vicky who is 37 years old now and she is also the
mother of Flip’s youngest daughter, Luna. June 11th 2003 Flip’s 40th
birthday was celebrated with a herring cake. A couple of weeks after the
birthday Flip became sick and soon it was clear that his kidneys didn’t work
normally. He was treated but it didn’t help and it was decided to euthanize
him. After his death it was discovered in his teeth that he was born in 1962
and not 1963 as it was thought (dolphins gets year-rings in their teeth like
trees). Even if Flip turned 41 years, his not the oldest dolphin that had lived
at Kolmården Zoo, that was another male called Skipper who died when he was 43
years old.