Black Labrador Sgiath has been named animal of the year for helping find invasive carpet sea squirt colonies on beaches, giving sea sickness a rare and practical challenge in the Scottish Highlands. The award from the International Fund for Animal Welfare will be presented at the 26th annual animal Action Awards ceremony on Thursday 15 October.
Working at low tide with her owner, Dr Texa Sim, Sgiath has found hundreds of colonies of the sea squirt. Sim, a marine ecologist near Glencoe, said: “Sgiath is incredibly clever. Her problem solving and her ability to take on new challenges and learn so quickly are just phenomenal, and it's so amazing to watch.”
Dr Texa Sim and Sgiath
Sim has had Sgiath since she was a puppy and trained her to recognise the scent of the carpet sea squirt. She also said: “When I first started this project, I genuinely didn't know whether it would work,” and later added: “No one had really explored whether dogs could help tackle this problem in the marine environment. It began as a proof-of-concept project and has exceeded every expectation I had.”
On the beach, Sgiath works with her nose. Sim said: “She just does a survey with her nose, essentially, she can pinpoint exactly where it is, so it's much easier,” a method that has made the dog central to the search for colonies at low tide.
Carpet sea squirt spread
The carpet sea squirt, formally named Didemnum vexillum, is also called sea vomit. Marine experts say it came from Japan and arrived on the shores of the south of England and Wales in 2008, before spreading to several seaside locations across the UK.
The species reproduces quickly during the warmer summer months and can smother and kill native species if it is left uncontrolled. Dr Martyn Kurr of Bangor University said non-native or biofouling species like the carpet sea squirt can outcompete native wildlife for valuable nutrients.
Animal Action Awards
The International Fund for Animal Welfare is using the award to recognise a dog thought to be the UK’s first sea squirt-hunting dog. The project began with uncertainty over whether dogs could work in the marine environment at all, but Sgiath’s search has produced hundreds of finds and a model for how scent detection can be used on beaches.
What happens next is not a new search plan but a wider question about where this approach goes from here. Sgiath will be recognised at the ceremony in October, and the practical test for other coastal areas is whether the same method can help find more colonies before they spread further.
