Monsters, lobsters and monkeys

Monsters, lobsters and monkeys

Margaret Thatcher's government constructed a plan in the 1970s to search for the Loch Ness monster using a team of bottle-nosed dolphins, according to declassified government files, released under the Freedom of Information Act. The Sunday Times reports that "Whitehall mandarins planned to import the highly intelligent mammals from America to establish once and for all whether Nessie existed."

Last week the Sunday Times revealed how civil servants had discusseed whether there would be legal protection from poachers and bounty hunters if the fabled Loch Ness monster "were to emerge from the depths".

The newspaper also reports that "after failing to outlaw the boiling alive of lobsters, MSPs are now seeking to introduce legislation banning people from keeping monkeys as pets. A bill going through parliament will prevent people from keeping primates in their homes."

Revealed: plan to hunt Nessie using dolphins (Sunday Times, 15 January 2006)