Comments on: The dolphin is eating the tank again. Call Bao Xishun!

The dolphin is eating the tank again. Call Bao Xishun!

nekton — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 07:08:54 -0800

The world's tallest man saved a dolphin by reaching into its stomach to retrieve plastic the dolphin had eaten. Bao Xishun, the world's tallest man at 7' 8.95" (2m, 36.1cm), is a herdsman from Inner Mongolia and is just naturally tall, not suffering from acromegaly or gigantism. At least there's some good dolphin-related news coming out of China. (Previously.)

By: thirteenkiller

thirteenkiller — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 07:12:54 -0800

I love Mongols (heart heart heart)

By: arcticwoman

arcticwoman — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 07:16:42 -0800

Happy news! I love that the tallest man in the world is Asian, especially since he is just naturally tall. I hope they compensated him well for reaching into the dolphins' stomachs.

By: chrismear

chrismear — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 07:20:57 -0800

Reaching into dolphins' stomachs is its own reward.

By: CynicalKnight

CynicalKnight — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 07:23:23 -0800

So long, and thanks for all the gaaaaghgllrk! - Hey!

By: Divine_Wino

Divine_Wino — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 07:33:56 -0800

About time he started pulling his weight around here, I've been on the waiting list for him to help me change the lightbulbs in the office for months.

By: econous

econous — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 07:39:41 -0800

But can he leap tall buildings in a single bound?

By: Milkman Dan

Milkman Dan — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 07:55:06 -0800

Those dolphins owe him one.

By: Jeff_Larson

Jeff_Larson — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 07:59:25 -0800

I wonder how the world's second tallest man feels.

By: RavinDave

RavinDave — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 08:01:35 -0800

World's tallest woman is also Chinese. Must be somethin' in the rice.

By: dead_

dead_ — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 08:02:39 -0800

I wonder if he stays on call for this type of thing.

By: weapons-grade pandemonium

weapons-grade pandemonium — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 08:03:56 -0800

Bao: I just want to say two words to you--just two words. Dolphin: Yes sir. Bao: Are you listening? Dolphin: Yes I am. Bao: No plastic.

By: horsewithnoname

horsewithnoname — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 08:07:57 -0800

I love that the tallest man in the world is Asian Assisting in the procedure, a teetotaling Irishman held the dolphin down while the Italian veterinarian gave directions without using with his hands.

By: dsword

dsword — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 08:44:03 -0800

Vet 1: How are we ever going to get these plastic shards out of these dolphins' stomachs? Vet 2: Wait a minute! Let's call the world's tallest man!

By: schroedinger

schroedinger — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 08:44:47 -0800

I want to know the story behind this. I'm envisioning a swarm of helicopters racing over the steppe, herds of sheep scattering under them as they chase down the World's Tallest Man riding on the World's Tallest Horse. His cloak billows behind him. The air stings cold and sharp on his wind-weathered face and he smiles; when he is away from the duties of the World's Tallest Man this is what he loves, the herding and the horses and the wild steppe extending on and on beyond the horizon. He rides on for a moment more, then pulls his horse around as the helicopters land in front of him. A woman steps out. She is dressed smartly but her expensive haircut and suit cannot hide the obvious worry in her eyes. "Mr. Xishun, the world needs you." He nods. It has happened before. It will happen again. He is really, really tall. This is his job; this is his life. He did not choose it, but like Spider-Man, he is unable to deny it.

By: tehloki

tehloki — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 08:57:47 -0800

Wait, the tallest man in the world is only 7'9"? Hot diggity! I'd better start growin'!

By: sonofslim

sonofslim — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 09:05:00 -0800

Inspector Gadget was unavailable?

By: serazin

serazin — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 09:07:25 -0800

I loved this post!

By: trinarian

trinarian — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 09:24:52 -0800

thanks for clearing the acromegaly thing up.

By: elendil71

elendil71 — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 09:27:25 -0800

schroedinger, I will be chuckling about that scenario all day.

By: fstutzman

fstutzman — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 09:27:30 -0800

+1 to schroedinger It is just so...I don't know, out of the movies. Scientists brainstorming around a table, the clock ticking, dolphin lives on the line. We must save the dolphins!! Running out of options. The dolphins mustn't die. Our last hope: We must call the world's tallest man to save the day. Yes! But what if he is busy? There is no other option! He is our last hope!! And of course he saved the day, and the dolpins.

By: NationalKato

NationalKato — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 09:28:56 -0800

Bet they had a really tough time getting him into that helicopter, though.

By: jouke

jouke — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 09:33:22 -0800

It's a great story about the tall mongolian. But Leonid Stadnik from the Ukraine is the tallest man with 8'4'. And he's still growing at 33 yrs. Poor guy will probably die soon. Just watch the picture where he drinks from a 3 liter jar!

By: quin

quin — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 09:38:55 -0800

This may be the oddest story I've read in a really long time. It's fantastic that everything turned out well, but yeah... odd.

By: nekton

nekton — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 10:09:57 -0800

jouke, it's a shame they couldn't call Leonid Stadnyk - he's a vet (according to the Wikipedia article about him.) Then again, perhaps pulling plastic out of a dolphin doesn't requre a lot of skill, just long arms. Also in the Wikipedia article, Guinness thinks Mr. Stadnyk might be a liar: "Leonid Stadnik refuses to be measured by us. We have been told that it is because he doesn't want to court publicity — yet he continues to claim to be the tallest. Unfortunately we can only conclude due to previous experience, that he refuses to be measured officially by us because he is not the height he claims to be."

By: sergeant sandwich

sergeant sandwich — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 10:27:50 -0800

probably inspired by 1978, when cliff ray, then center for the golden state warriors, stuck his arm down a dolphin's throat to retrieve a bolt. i remember reading about it in some book about dolphins when i was a kid.

By: Cyrano

Cyrano — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 10:44:38 -0800

I give it a week until there's a dolphin oral-fisting fetish website. Two weeks, tops.

By: TedW

TedW — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 11:32:04 -0800

I bet Ray and Xishun were just thankful it wasn't a fecal impaction.

By: winston

winston — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 11:48:35 -0800

schroedinger, when will the screenplay be finished?

By: pwedza

pwedza — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 13:04:23 -0800

Awesome!

By: The Card Cheat

The Card Cheat — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 14:24:19 -0800

I declare this the funniest thread in quite some time. Special props to schroedinger for the nod to Armageddon!

By: Iron Rat

Iron Rat — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 14:59:01 -0800

Worlds tallest man in 2008! He can save us all! (But differently)

By: Meatbomb

Meatbomb — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 16:49:27 -0800

Yeah, I'd look tall if you photographed me in and around a tiny hovel with only shrunken babooshkas crouching down around me, too. I call BS.

By: tehloki

tehloki — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 17:02:06 -0800

uh, dude?

By: Meatbomb

Meatbomb — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 17:06:04 -0800

I was talking about the Ukrainian.

By: tehloki

tehloki — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 17:08:22 -0800

darn........ \'/ selfpwned.

By: docpops

docpops — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 18:07:37 -0800

Bao: I just want to say two words to you--just two words. Dolphin: Yes sir. Bao: Are you listening? Dolphin: Yes I am. Bao: No plastic. Now I have to change my pants.

By: baphomet

baphomet — Sat, 16 Dec 2006 01:34:56 -0800

This is possibly the most incredible thing I've ever read. Moreover, the thread is fantastic. You're all geniuses...thank you, world's tallest man.

By: Jess the Mess

Jess the Mess — Sat, 16 Dec 2006 08:57:42 -0800

What a swell guy! Mongols are cool.

By: homunculus

homunculus — Sat, 16 Dec 2006 13:00:53 -0800

In sadder news, the Baiji is functionally extinct (update to the previous thread.) My hope is that this will galvanize the microscopic environmental movement in China to get more action taken. I'm getting worried about the environmental movement here in the US, and how much of a chilling effect the AETA will have on it.