Izzy Tiddy’s Placement Report

During my placement with Scottish Marine Animals Stranding Scheme (SMASS) I was tasked to update and analyse their cetacean strandings dataset with particular focus on beaked whales. This included assessing the potential impact of the 2018 Unusual Mortality Event (UME), in which over 100 beaked whales, mainly goose-beaked (formerly Cuvier’s beaked) whales stranded in a three-month period. This was a massively statistically anomalous event, and the scale of mortality relative to current population estimates shows that closer monitoring of cryptic species such as deep-diving beaked whales is key to understanding population dynamics. My analysis also included investigating overall temporal and spatial trends in western European cetacean strandings data. This project allowed me to utilise and hone my skills in R, including both statistical skills and data presentation, and to gain skills in spatial data presentation and analysis using QGIS. I presented my findings at the 29^th meeting of the ASCOBANS (Agreement on the Conservation of Small Cetaceans of the Baltic, North East Atlantic, Irish and North Seas) UN Advisory Committee in September 2025.

I gained extensive practical experience during my time with SMASS, including attending and participating in twelve cetacean post-mortems across six species. This included tissue sampling for bacteriology, virology, and histological analysis, as well as opportunities to learn about the physiological and morphological adaptations present in cetacean species. I also gained insight into the major threats to different cetacean species, and the methods involved in and barriers to accurately diagnosing cause of death in stranded cetaceans.

My placement coincided with the Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival, and I was able to attend this with the SMASS team to participate in outreach activities including educating the public on the work of SMASS and promoting our citizen science stranding tracking software Beach Track. This also presented great opportunities for networking, as the SMASS team worked alongside representatives from the Whale and Dolphin Commission (WDC) and the Scottish Creel Fishermen’s Federation (SCFF).