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Suspect is named 'animal of the year' for hunting invasive 'sea vomit' across Highland coastlines

Sgiath, the six-year-old black Labrador who became the world's first dog trained to detect invasive carpet sea squirt by scent alone, has been named animal of the year by the International Fund for Animal Welfare.
Sgiath, the six-year-old black Labrador who became the world's first dog trained to detect invasive carpet sea squirt by scent alone, has been named animal of the year by the International Fund for Animal Welfare.

Sgiath, a six-year-old black Labrador raised in the Scottish Highlands, has taken the Animal of the Year title at the International Fund for Animal Welfare awards for her work detecting carpet sea squirt — a destructive invasive organism nicknamed 'sea vomit'. Her handler, Glasgow-born marine ecologist Dr Texa Sim, who lives near Glencoe, accepted the honour at IFAW's 26th annual Animal Action Awards ceremony at BAFTA London on Thursday. No other dog anywhere in the world has been trained to detect the species, and Sgiath has so far located hundreds of colonies along Scotland's coastlines.

Carpet sea squirt, originally from Japan, arrived in England and Wales in 2008 and threatens native species and oyster farms by smothering them, killing whatever lies beneath if left unchecked.

Before Dr Sim retrained her for marine detection work, Sgiath's career was in mountain rescue; the creature is notoriously difficult to locate and ordinarily requires DNA testing to confirm its presence.

IFAW's Sharon Livermore said Sgiath 'has placed herself in a league of her own' for pioneering a world-first approach to tackling invasive marine species.

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