How Many Doctors Does It Take to Remove a Volleyball From a Dolphin’s Stomach?
- Posted on January 23, 2012 at 1:44pm by
Liz Klimas
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For American children, losing the baseball at a game can sometimes mean playtime is over (think the classic movie “The Sandlot”). The same was true for one dolphin at an aquarium in China, but it didn’t quite lose the ball — it swallowed it.
According to International Business Times, 5-year-old Jiang Bo at Nanjing Ocean Aquarium was playing with its keeper when the 30 centimeter in diameter ball was punctured and swallowed. The ball was not going to pass naturally, so doctors devised a plan to retrieve the object.
Watch what appears to be an unusual and chaotic operation:
The International Business Times report (in English) depicts a slightly less hectic operating room:
According to the International Business Times, the ball was located with an endoscope before the dolphin was sedated for the 2.5 hour procedure.
Shanghai Daily reports that before using a different technique to get the ball out, doctors considered finding someone with long arms:
“After closely examining the situation, we conclude the safest and quickest solution to help the dolphin out is to find people whose arms are longer than 1.1 meters,” she said.
[...]
In 2006, the long arms of the world‘s tallest man reached in and saved two dolphins by pulling out plastic they had nibbled from the edge of their pool in northeast China’s Liaoning Province from their stomachs, The Associated Press reported.
Previous attempts to retrieve the ball, which could not be surgically removed through the stomach, included trying to burn a hole in the ball to hook it out. The doctors ended up drilling a hole in the ball and using a wire to pull it out.
The dolphin is reported to be doing well.
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B_rad
Posted on January 24, 2012 at 1:10pmAm I the only one wondering if these people ever heard of tongs?
Report Post »SenorStrange
Posted on January 24, 2012 at 12:00pmI think they ate the dolphin after the operation.
Report Post »DD313
Posted on January 24, 2012 at 9:35amAfter the operation, did they name the dolphin Spike?
Report Post »bucklywheat
Posted on January 23, 2012 at 11:40pmGreat thing to do but what about the hundereds and hundreds that are savagely slaughtered at the hands of Asains. Reference: The Cove. See it for yourself.
Report Post »jharper
Posted on January 23, 2012 at 10:06pmIt’s so funny that they were looking for someone with really long arms to pull it out. Glad they opted to drill a hole and deflate the ball then remove it with a wire. I wonder how many government agent do- gooder’s had to be convienced that it was in the best interest of the dolphin to do it that way instead of finding someone with REALLY LONG ARMS to stick them down the dolphins throat and pull out a fully inflated ball. Stoopid idiots. Dolphins are wonderful to watch. There are a lot of them in our area. But did you know that as many as five or six males will isolate a female for days on end, deprive her of food and gang rape her non-stop? That’s not a smile they sport, but a sinister sneer. OH…and they kill each others young. Just sayin’.
Report Post »lookatthefactsjack
Posted on January 24, 2012 at 7:22amcount your marbles.
Report Post »cdcats8
Posted on January 23, 2012 at 10:04pmWith so many bad stories these days it is wonderful to see such teamwork for the animal. We forget how many humans do care about each other and the critters of the world. Blessings to the group who worked to save this dolphin.
Report Post »jharper
Posted on January 23, 2012 at 9:50pmIt only took ONE person to remove a golf ball from the blow hole of a whale. His name was Kramer. My hero.
Report Post »Baddoggy
Posted on January 23, 2012 at 5:46pmGod! They found Wilson!!
Report Post »Wilson!! Tom Hanks ids looking for you!!!
NoNannyState4me
Posted on January 23, 2012 at 6:54pmHahaha!
Report Post »C-Delta Conductor
Posted on January 23, 2012 at 5:43pmI know how many bullets it takes to solve this problem. One.
It’s an animal.
Report Post »SpankDaMonkey
Posted on January 23, 2012 at 5:04pm.
How Many Doctors Does It Take to Remove a Volleyball From a Dolphin’s Stomach?
IDK, but I know how many GLBT members will fit on a bar stool……
Report Post »Hickory
Posted on January 23, 2012 at 5:04pmUmmmmm, let’s see now. About the same number it takes to pull Obama’s head out of his @$$.
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