Dog is crowned animal of the year for hunting ‘sea vomit’ – but what is it?

A Scottish Labrador has been named ‘animal of the year’ for hunting down an invasive species of marine creature.

Sgiath, a black Labrador from the Scottish Highlands, has been trained to hunt down ‘sea vomit’, a nickname for carpet sea squirts.

The ‘sea vomit’ can smother and kill native species in the region if left uncontrolled.

Marine ecologist Dr Texa Sim, Sgiath’s owner, began training her pup to sniff out the invasive creature.

‘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,’ she explained.

‘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.’

The International Fund for Animal Welfare awarded Sgiath for her hard work by naming her animal of the year.

Sharon Livermore, IFAW’s director of Marine Conservation, said: ‘For her life-saving abilities as a mountain rescue dog alone, Sgiath would be worthy of recognition.

‘But by helping pioneer a world-first approach to detecting invasive marine species, she has placed herself in a league of her own. For her innovation and impact, she is a worthy recipient of this year’s Animal of the Year Award.’

The carpet sea squirt is believed to have originated from Japan, but was first detected in the UK in 2008.

It gets its name from its vomit-like appearance – sticky and liquid – and is spotted among coastlines near seaweed patches.

This summer’s heatwave helped it multiply, as it thrives in warmer months.

Sea vomit poses an issue for native wildlife, sucking out the nutrients from ecosystems and infiltrating oyster farms and marine infrastructure.

In 1969, Portuguese oysters grown off the coast of France and Portugal were almost wiped out by sea vomit.

Controlling the growth of sea vomit is difficult because it can clone itself and grow rapidly

The Institute of Marine Research notes: ‘The Sea vomit can withstand temperatures down to minus 2 degrees Celsius, but it needs 11–14 degrees in the water to produce larvae.’

That means in colder waters, ‘it probably fails to spread with larvae, but it can still spread with shipping and reproduce with the help of fragments.’

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