Flipper (1964–1967): Season 1, Episode 18 - The Day of the Shark - full transcript

- All right, Sandy, get the anchor.

One more boundary marker
and then we head for home.

- Aw, Dad, can't I scrape
the moss off of this one?

You did it last time, please.

- No, Bud, it's too deep for you.

And as a matter of fact,

it's too deep for you too, Sandy.

I want you guys to stay
here, topside with the boat.

- Then can we swim around
up here with Flipper?

Okay, but don't go too far or too deep

and be ready to go when
I come back up topside



so we can go home for lunch, all right?

- Gee, thanks Dad.

- All right, give me that brush.

- Right.

Boys quick, into the boat.

Hurry up, get UP-

- What is it, Dad?

- There are sharks down there.

- Sharks?

' How many, Dad?

- I don't know, I didn't
take time to count.

- What about Flipper, Dad?

Will he be okay?

- I think we all ought to get out of here.



- What are you gonna do about them?

- Well, I think I'm gonna
need some help on this one.

I'll call Dr. Tolner at the
Marine Research Institute.

He knows more about sharks than
any other man on the coast.

All right, Sandy, get the anchor.

♫ They call him Flipper Flipper

♫ Faster than lightning

♫ No one you see

♫ ls smarter than he

♫ And we know Flipper

♫ Lives in a world of wonder

♫ Lying there under

♫ Under the sea

- Well Porter,
that was really a fine lunch.

- Well thanks, Bill.

I think our tuna is about the
best along the entire coast.

- Well I have to agree with you there.

- Gee Dad, we know all about
tuna fish and everything.

But I thought Dr. Tolner came
here to chase off sharks.

- I think we better go in.

. Okay-

Bud, before we do any chasing,

I'd like to show you what
you may be up against.

- There's not a shark
in this box is there?

- Well, yes and no.

I thought you might be
interested in seeing

some film that was taken on our last

shark studying expedition.

Oh yeah, Porter, thanks.

- Right.

- Television!

- Well not exactly, Bud.

This is a battery operated
motion picture film viewer.

Now, here is the one we went out to study.

- Will you look at the size of him.

Is it a man eater?

- Well it's hard to say, Bud,

when and if a shark will attack.

But this variety has
attacked and killed men.

- Flipper isn't scared of 'em.

And I'm not scared of 'em
when I'm with Flipper.

- Why do you study sharks Dr. Tolner?

Just because they're so interesting?

- Well, that's partly it, Sandy.

But primarily to lessen
the dangers from them.

You see, the more we learn
and understand about sharks,

the less unpredictable they'll be

and the easier it'll be
for someone to handle them

in case they're attacked.

Oh, here you see one way
we protect ourselves.

- A shark cage.

- Yeah, you remember the
time we had to use one.

- Sure,

exploring that old wreck near the reef.

- Well if you ask me, it'd
be much safer and easier

if all the sharks were put in the cages.

- Well that
would be easier, Bud.

But who's gonna round 'em up?

- How do you attract
the sharks for your study?

- Well, Sandy we
found the sharks are attracted

by low frequency sound.

' Noise?

- Mm-hmm, like explosions or

fish thrashing about in the water.

- Or a panicky swimmer.

- Exactly.

You know the best advice
to a swimmer in trouble is

not to thrash wildly

but to swim away from the
shark in slow, even strokes.

- I swam near a shark once.

- Oh
really, what kind was it?

- Oh, it was a big one.

- It was a lemon shark.

It got tangled up in our nets.

- Lemon shark?

How many different flavors are there?

- Well, Bud,

there are over 250 species of shark.

And they're found in every ocean.

- Hey, look at that.

- Is that you Dr. Tolner?

- Look, the knife
won't even go through his skin.

- Ah, shark skin's
one of the toughest known.

You know, actually his skin
is made of the same material

as his teeth?

- Boy, you sure are brave.

Almost as brave as Dad.

- Well, that does her.

- What's the purpose of your
current investigations, Bill?

- Well, Porter, I'd like to come up with

an effective shark repellent,

so that we don't have to rely
on knives and spear guns.

It's quite a challenge.

- And that's another reason
Dr. Tolner came down.

We're going out and see if
we can attract those sharks

and then scare 'em away.

- Ah, that's good.

I won't mind, although
it will be kind of hard

getting Flipper in the cage with us.

But I guess we can manage.

- Flipper?

With us?

- Ah, come on, Dad.

Let me be with Flipper while
we're in the first experiment.

- All right, son, it's a deal.

- Really?

- Mm-hmm, really.

You will be with Flipper
during the experiment.

You'll be right with him, right here.

- Here?

But Dad, Sandy's going.

Why do...

- No Bud, it's going
to be dangerous enough

as it is out there.

I need Sandy on the deck to
help with the shark cage.

And it could be dangerous
for Flipper down below too.

So you keep him here with you.

- Oh, all right.

- Well Bud, look.

Tell you what.

Why don't you take this viewer down

and run the movies for Flipper?

You know he might enjoy them.

Oh say, by the way, I've got a little

transistor radio kit here

that you can put together

and become a junior scientist.

Do it all by yourself.

- Gee, thanks a lot!

- Well, Bill, we got a
couple good hours of work

ahead of us.
- Yeah.

- Sandy, you get the scuba gear ready

and Bud, look, I want you to find Flipper

and stay with him.

Let's get working on our gear.

- Right, fine.

- Gee, thanks a lot.

Oh, there you are.

Flipper, I don't know how they expect me

to become a junior scientist

when they won't even let
me come on an experiment.

Well, I don't blame you
for being mad one bit.

No sir.

See, it's your home and
you're being evicted.

Anyway,

you can see a movie of what we're missing.

Flipper, be careful.

Well, this is the area.

- Okay, good.

Well, let's start laying out

our pattern of dynamite charges.

Guess we'll see how fast
low frequency sounds

will attract 'em.

. Okay-

Sandy, after I straighten it up,

you keep it on this course
until I tell you all right?

- Right.

- Okay, let's go doctor.

- Flipper, isn't this something?

Boy, what a good scientist I'd make.

Flipper, would you rather
watch this movie again

or listen to some music on my radio?

Okay then.

Hey, Flipper, I've got an idea.

I'll put the radio in this plastic bag

so it won't get wet.

Then we'll take it out on the paddle-board

and listen to music, okay?

Flipper, isn't this neat?

- Well, it looks
like we're gonna have company.

- Flipper, was that an explosion?

It might have been Dr. Tolner's boat.

They might need some help.

I gotta get out there fast.

- Porter, tie on those on the cage.

- Squirt bottles?

- Yeah, to release a chemical repellent.

See it dissolves in water.

So, in theory, we can surround ourselves

with a blanket of protection

that'll last up to 20 minutes.

That is, if the current isn't too strong.

And we'll sink these bags
of repellent over the side

so we can pierce them with
spear guns for saturation

farther from the cage.

- What's in the repellent?

- Oh a number of chemicals
to confuse the shark's

keen sense of smell.

And you notice this

white blue color?

Well that's supposed to
sting the shark's eyes.

Okay, Porter, give her a heave.

- Sure hope it works.

- Well, let's hope so.

Well, let's get our gear on, all right?

- Yeah.

- Flipper, where are you?

Flipper, quick, give me a ride.

- Dad, a shark, look.

- Sandy, you better put the chum lines in.

That'll keep 'em busy until we get ready.

By the Way!

Drop us down to 50 feet remember?

We can shoot the bags from there.

If there's any trouble topside,

you pull us right out, okay?

- Okay, Dad.

- All right, let's get the cages.

' Bud!

Bud, go back, sharks!

Bud, go back.

Dad.

Dad, Bud's out here on the paddle-board.

. UP-

Bud!

- He doesn't hear us.

- He doesn't see the sharks either.

Your repellent doesn't work.

Dad, what can we do?

- We're gonna go after him.

- But you can't do that.

The sound of the motors
will attract the sharks

right along with us.

They'll surround Bud before we
have a chance to pick him up.

- Sandy, hit the siren.

- Wait a minute.

Neither of you have a chance now.

- Dad, save me, whoop...

- Sandy, give me a hand will you?

- Get to the boat Bud, quick.

- They're swimming away.

Look.

- I don't understand it,

it sure couldn't be my repellent.

Come on, give me your hand.

- What the devil do you
think you were doing?

You could have been killed out there.

- Killed?

- The water was full of sharks.

- Sharks?

- I want you to explain
to me why you deliberately

came out here and disobeyed me.

- Well Dad, when me and
Flipper, when we saw

the water turn that color and everything

and we heard all those explosions,

well we just sort of came out
here to see if we could help.

- It did turn out all right Dad.

- Yeah.

- You think you heard
some explosions out here,

you wait till we get home young man.

- I wonder what could have
repelled those sharks.

- I can tell you that.

It was Flipper.

- I'm afraid one dolphin
isn't gonna scare off

a school of sharks.

- Tell 'em Flipper.

Tell 'em you scared off the sharks.

My radio.

It must have fallen in the water.

And look, it's soaked.

- You know something,

it's just possible.

- What is it, Bill?

- Maybe Bud and Flipper
did scare off those sharks.

- How do you mean?

- Well it's just a guess
but an educated one.

If salt water shorted out the off switch

on the tuning condensers,

then it could let off a
high frequency squeal.

Ah, you can barely hear it.

Our ears aren't sensitive to it.

- So? 50?

- Well, when the radio fell in the water,

the water conducted the
sound right to target.

- You mean the sharks?

- The sharks.

- If low frequency sounds
attract sharks, like explosions,

maybe high frequency
sounds will repel them.

- Well maybe it was
the sound of the siren?

- Well that's a possibility, I don't know.

Porter, if this is true.

If I can make a device like that radio

swimmers can carry,

then they can swim safely
in shark infested waters.

- Well I can say this much,

I'd much rather swim with Flipper

than any old shark, any time.

Right, Flipper?

- Bud, Dr. Tolner is leaving today,

and he wanted to come
down and say goodbye.

- Take care of yourself, Bud.

- Sure Dr. Tolner.

I sure hope you come back real soon.

But are you sure all the
sharks won't come back?

- Yes, I'm sure, Bud.

That school of sharks just got off course

after that last storm you had.

They got in the wrong warm water current.

- Oh.

- Dr. Tolner promised
that if he does come back

he'll let you and Flipper
watch his experiments.

- Well, I don't think I want
to be a scientist any more.

- How come?

- Well you see, I promised
Flipper that I'd be his manager.

- His manager?

- Yes, in show business.

Watch.

- Well that's marvelous.

♫ Everyone loves the king of the sea

♫ Ever so kind and gentle is he

♫ Tricks he will do

♫ When children are near

♫ And how they laugh when he's near

♫ They call him Flipper Flipper

♫ Faster than lightning

♫ No one you see

♫ ls smarter than he

♫ And we know Flipper

♫ Lives in a world full of wonder

♫ Lying there under

♫ Under the sea