Hellbender The needs your help to survive Experts agree protective
status could be crucial for struggling species
What is a hellbender? Why are they declining? What you can do to help!
Photo by Isaac Szabo
Contents ...
Page
3 What is a hellbender? 4 Riverkeeper John Zaktansky column: Time for action 4 Clickable timeline of events 5 Graphic of Eastern hellbender gets a second chance 6 Once thriving, now declining (Peter Petokas story) 12 Death by 1,000 cuts (Matt Kaunert story)
16 World wide reduction (Mizuki Takahashi story) 18 2006 rail car spill a devastating lesson of impact 18 Pollution minefield: A look at numerous factors 19 Links to local pollution stories and research
20 How you can help: Raising awareness 21 How you can help: Sign the petition
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Photo by Isaac Szabo
Hellbender? What is a
Can be brown, olive or rusty colored, sometimes with spots that help it blend in with the stream bed.
PA’s state amphibian since 2019
Wrinkles in skin increase surface area for absorbing oxygen.
Flat head and body shape ideal for fitting under large rocks and other small places.
Long, flat tail offers boost for swimming and as a rudder for turning.
Hellbender drawing by Rob Lang at Underdone Comics.com
Due to odd looks and our misconceptions, has many nicknames such as snot otter, lasagna sides, mud devil, devil dog, Allegheny alligator, grampus and mudpuppy.
A mostly nocturnal species that rarely comes out of its den except to hunt for food. It is not aggressive, poisonous or bad for waterways.
Photo by Isaac Szabo
Hellbenders live under large rocks at the bottom of clean waterways. These are essential elements for their survival. They are considered a key water quality indicator species because of this.
Its favorite food is the crayfish, although it can eat a wide variety of smaller aquatic species.
It is the largest salamander in our
Its existence predates most other species and an individual hellbender can live 30-50 years when conditions are right. www.middlesusquehannariverkeeper.org/hellbenders.html
country, measuring up to 30 inches and 4-5 pounds.
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Click a box for event info Clickable Timeline
2018 Loyalsock Creek wins PA River of the Year, hellbender is symbol of celebration
April 2019 US Fish and Wildlife Service ruled the hellbender did not need federal protection
Oct. 2019 Gov. Wolf signs bill naming hellbender as state amphibian of PA
March 2021 5 groups, including MSRKA file lawsuit against USFWS over 2019 lack of protection
There is a huge amount of therapy for me, at least, on super stressful days – when it feels like the whole world is falling apart and the sky is falling with work proj - ects and other major situations – to lay down in bed at night and zero for action Time
that these sections of hellbender habitat utopia are nearly gone and the few remaining face threats both upstream and down. At the top of these pages is a timeline of dates related to the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s (USFWS) decision to not grant the hellbender a threatened or endanged listing federally in 2019. Around that same time, we were celebrating the Loyalsock Creek and the hellbender itself (naming it our state amphibian) here in PA. None of that really mattered when a few years later a coffer dam failed and sediment buried pristine hellbender habitat – one of numerous issues facing the species we’ll discuss in the coming pages. Our association joined several others in pushing the USFWS to have to relook at its 2019 decision and this past fall, a federal judge agreed. Later this year, the agency is expected to share new information and update its decision. Interestingly, Pennsylvania, in 2025, will be re - leasing its 10-year update of the Statewide Wildlife Action Plan, which will include the status of the hell - bender, currently only a species of special concern (which does not trigger any real protections when stream work is done near known hellbender habi - tat). However, when a group files for a NPDES (Na - tional Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) permit for earth disturbance related to any water - way, applicants must provide proof of consultation with the PA Natural Heritage Program regarding presence of any state or federally threatened or endangered species. If authorities determine that the proposed earth disturbance activity may adversely impact the species or critical habitat, it could require a change in construction plans or some other remediation to protect the species. I personally don’t know the exact science for deciding whether a species should be listed, and I don’t know the hellbender’s status beyond the Susquehanna watershed. However, I do know that we have some of the world’s best authorities on this species right here in our watershed. So, I interviewed Petokas again this summer for a fresh update on the status of the hellbender. And then I checked in with Matt Kaunert, the newish director of Lycoming College’s Clean Water Insti -
Riverkeeper John Zaktansky
in my thoughts and prayers of thankfulness on a smaller scope of what is going right at home. That even when all else is spiraling out of con - trol, at least my immediate family and things within my two-acre corner of the world are OK, safe and secure. I had that feeling, briefly, for the Eastern hell - bender as I helped Dr. Peter Petokas this past July. He and a student had collected a number of healthy hellbenders from a stretch of stream in our watershed and were collecting data – weights and other measurements, samples for fungal testing, observations on how they are doing. Eventually, each hellbender was placed carefully back at the exact spot it was collected. The work wasn’t hard but it was meticulous, tiring and yet refreshing. Petokas pointed out that this was one of the best stretches of hellbender habitat possibly in the country. Hellbender numbers have drastically declined across the country – Petokas estimates that 95 per - cent of their populations have been lost in our wa - tershed alone. Yet, at that very moment for those specific hellbenders, life was good. They could take a breath (through their lasagna-like skin flaps), feast on crayfish and be thankful. I could relate with that zeroed-in moment of peacefulness. However, that feeling doesn’t last and we can’t use that sense of security to ignore the bigger-pic - ture need for species protection. The reality is
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Sept. 2022 Coffer dam washes out on Loyalsock Creek, spewing sediment over habitat
Sept. 2023 Federal judge rules that USFWS must revisit its 2019 decision on species status
Oct. 2023 PA adds hellbender license plate to help Wild Resource Conservation Fund
late 2024 US Fish and Wildlife Service to provide updated ruling on hellbender status
2025 PA to update its 10-year Wildlife Action Plan, including hellbender status
tute who has a long history of hellbender work in western PA. I even sent some questions via email to Dr. Mizuki Takahashi of Bucknell University, who has studied giant salamanders in Japan to look at the world-view situation for hellbenders. Instead of weaving their comments into one long comprehensive story, I kept them separate, hoping to illustrate not only their notable differenc - es in approach to studying these animals but more importantly the similarities they have. The bottom line is that there is MUCH we don’t know about this secretive, noctural species despite its longstanding residence in our watershed. We are just starting to understand it and the pollutants that threaten it. It deserves a cushion of protection until we
better understand it, its unique reproductive habits and the cocktail of contaminants that threaten it ... at least in our Susquehanna watershed where we are down to a few dwindling pockets of ideal habitat that so easily could be wiped out if we aren’t very careful. More on that in the pages ahead. Right now, officials are fighting to reintroduce species in PA that
Help the hellbender Sign the petition
have been completely lost like the American Marten. Let’s not let the hellbender get so far gone that we need to fight 100 years from now to reintroduce it from scratch.
Riverkeeper John Zaktansky
5 chng.it/8nVRWfmdCh
Once thriving now declining Only a few pockets of ideal hellbender habitat remain
regurgitated piec - es of recently de - voured and partially digested crayfish. A few minutes later, it
spewed out a few addi - tional segments represent - ing at least one additional crayfish, if not more. “These guys are obviously eating well,” observed Dr. Peter Petokas as he continued to examine this specific hellbender – one of several he and a student caught and studied in mid-July as part of ongoing research in the middle Susquehanna watershed. “This one has grown quite a bit since we saw it last!” Using electronic tags inserted during pre - vious field testing, Petokas has been able to check certain animals and monitor growth
As it splashed around in the bottom of a small translucent Tupperware container awaiting measurement in a plastic pipe fitted with measuring tape, an Eastern hellbender
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Each hellbender Dr. Peter Petokas and his student helper Spencer found in the wild in mid July was checked to see if it was an animal he had previously identified. They weighed, measured, inspected and samples were taken to test for vari - ous pathogens. Data was meticulously recorded before each was released to the exact spot it was found.
trends at sites where habitat is still sufficient to sustain populations in the Susquehanna watershed. As he and the student meticulously re - turned each hellbender back to the specific crevice under the rock from which it was collected, Petokas glanced over the creek. “This stretch is likely the best hellbender habitat in our watershed – perhaps in our country,” he said. “To think the hellbender used to thrive across our whole watershed like this and now, we only have a few small pockets of ideal habitat left.” Status check The Eastern hellbender – the PA state am - phibian – is the largest salamander in U.S. It can grow up to 30 inches long and near -
ly five pounds in weight and lives in the wa - ter – usually under the same rock for all of its life, which can span multiple decades under ideal conditions. “They prefer fairly large streams with clean water that have a stable food chain and an abundance of crayfish. They require water - ways with large rocks – like rocks the size of cars – and those rocks must be kept clean. Fine sediment in the waterway can bury those rocks,” said Petokas. “Habitat is critical for this creature, and if it is present, it is an indicator of clean water conditions.” On the whole, he relayed that the Susque - hanna River basin once was home to the species in the West Branch, North Branch, main stem and its tributaries. Continued on next page
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“If you were to compare the Susquehanna River watershed with the Allegheny and Ohio, our basin is much worse off because I’d say that 95 percent of the populations in the Susquehanna watershed have disappeared.” - Dr. Peter Petokas
“But now, as far as the North Branch in the river, there is nothing left and in the main stem, it is pretty much the same thing,” he said. “We are only seeing a few residual populations in other parts of the watershed. “If you were to compare the Susquehanna River watershed with the Allegheny and Ohio, our basin is much worse off because I’d say that 95 percent of the hellbender populations in the Susquehanna watershed have dis - appeared, leaving just a few populations. While in the Ohio and Allegheny, they still have sizeable populations that are still reproducing. So comparatively, in my experience and that of others, we are definitely in worse shape.” The decline has been gradual since the 1970s and 80s, according to Peto - kas, “and I think that we are still seeing some indication of a slight decline in the remaining populations.” He admits there are still hellbenders out there across the Susquehanna watershed, but “there is no indica - tion they could completely restart a population (on their own).” Why the decline? Reasons for the hellbender’s decline are many, Petokas admits, but chief among them remains sedimentation. “They live their entire lives under these big rocks. They need the small crevices and fis - sures for their life cycles, and sediment can completely cut that off,” he said, adding that while we have come a long way to address some of the issues with erosion, there is much more to be done if we are going to reverse damage to hellbender habitat.
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Every so often, hellbenders can be caught accidently by anglers. If you do catch a hellbender, it is recommended you carefully remove the hook if possible and if not, cut the line as close to the hellbender as you can and release it immediately back into the water without harming it.
Click this image to watch a video of a hellbender’s catch and safe release
Photo by Michael Kinney
“While things like buffer plantings and streambank stabilizations are great, they are also usually small localized projects within a particular watershed, so they typically only offset the sediment input into the water at a local level. There is still continued input into the water from elsewhere in the watershed,” Petokas said. “I don’t know if the issue is increasing, but it is still a big concern. There are areas where you can drive through our watershed and see cattle in streams. That’s not changing very quickly, so we still have a lot of problems out there.” Another issue hellbenders face is water pollution. They breathe directly through their skin – the loose lasagna-like wrinkles on their sides increase surface area to improve that process. So any pollutants in a stream can cause immediate negative impacts for the species. “Even with a number of improvements in
water quality in the area, there is still a loss of water quality we continue to see – things like inputs from agriculture and mining and even from our roadways such as salting and spray - ing of oils and tars.” Petokas has also seen acute events of spills wipe out entire populations of hellbenders in our watershed, including an incident in 2006 when a rail car overturned next to a tributary and dumped sodium hydroxide over the stream bank. “Also, the containment of our streams by human infrastructure has limited the ability of the streams themselves to function the way they would naturally,” he said. “And even disease, like the chytrid fungus may be caus - ing issues. We don’t know its exact impact, but we think it can take years before the animals are weakened enough by the fungal infection before they are harmed by it.
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Dr. Peter Petokas partners with the Bronx Zoo to raise juvenile hellbenders from eggs collected in the wild. The zoo hatch - es the eggs and keeps them for a couple years. Next, Petokas and his team take them and raise them in tanks designed to replicate streams before they are released into the wild. Images were taken during a 2021 release.
“So, there are multiple factors, multiple stressors that probably interact in some syner - gistic fashion to topple over populations that are on the edge.” As to the exact reason why animals are dying off, he admitted that no one knows for sure because they aren’t monitored 24/7. “We don’t typically see them dying,” he said. “Most of it seems to occur during the winter when nobody is out there looking and then they just aren’t there the following spring when we go back out.” Offsetting the trend Petokas’ work over the past 20 years with the species has focused on three main areas: Egg collection, reintroduction and habitat improvement. “We have reintroduced animals to the wild in 2018 and 2021, and they were three and a half years of age at time of release,” he said. Most of this work is done in tributaries of the upper Susquehanna located in southern New
York where Petokas has a partnership with a land trust. This group has protected sections of waterways which allowed him to improve habitat with artificial nest boxes. “These animals are doing very well. They are eating an abundance of crayfish which is sustaining their growth and they seem to be managing well,” he said. “The exciting part of this is not just that success, but that some of these animals are now reaching the age of 10. Hellbenders don’t reproduce until they are about nine or 10 years old, so what we are hoping to see this coming fall is some involve - ment in reproduction by these head-started reintroduced animals.
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“That would be, for us
going to attack you or bite you unless you are to grab them and wrestle with them, but as a rule, they are pretty innocu - ous and harmless animals.” Which is why he feels that out - reach and educa - tion about the na - ture of these animals is really important. “It isn’t just that they are big, but that they are
at least, a moment of real success – when we see reproduc - tion by reintro- duced animals in the wild.” Such a result, he added, would highlight the po - tential for success - ful hellbender re - population efforts in the future although it
“If the animal was listed as state threatened or endangered or federally threatened or endangered, then when people want to do activities with streams associated with hellbender populations, there would be some regulatory oversight of those activities.” - Dr. Peter Petokas
all goes back to making sure habitat is suitable first. “That is where I feel the ef - fort should be focused is on-the- ground applied conservation projects.
unique in so many differ - ent ways,” Petokas said. “What would it be like if we didn’t have them around? All these different unique species we have on this planet? What if we didn’t have them around to enjoy and see when we go to zoos. They are very special.” Which is why he feels it is such a crucial time for the species and that some sort of govern - mental protection is necessary at least until populations are more stabilized. “If the animal was listed as state threatened or endangered or federally threatened or en - dangered, then when people want to do ac - tivities with streams associated with hellbender populations, there would be some regulatory oversight of those activities,” Petokas said. “As of now, because they are not protected as threatened or endangered, there is a minimal amount of effort taken to alleviate the impact on streams in Pennsylvania and New York. It would definitely help in terms of offsetting impacts.” It can come down to what we feel is im - portant or connect to personally, Petokas added. “We can relate to bald eagles. They’re not just beautiful animals, but a national symbol for us,” he said. “It may be a little harder to relate to a salamander. They’re just not as majestic. At least to some people – they are to me.”
In addition to captured rearing and repro - ducing these animals, we can also create natural habitat,” he said, pointing out that this will take enhanced collaboration by multiple groups and agencies. “We can improve the amount of natural habitat and improve the connectivity between habitat sections.” Sections like the one Petokas spent time in mid-July reassessing. Awareness and protection “I reached out to the property owner (a day after) I did the hellbender work and told her the hellbenders were full of crayfish and she told me, ‘Oh, that is why we haven’t seen any crayfish in the stream!’” Petokas said. “So, hellbenders have the potential to be a kind of biological control over invasive crayfish, just one of the ecological values they provide. “They do sit on top of the (aquatic) food chain, so they can maintain the diversity and the structure of aquatic life that is smaller than them within that particular watershed.” And because they are so vulnerable to en - vironmental factors, they act as clean water indicators for the streams in which they live. “It’s sort of like the canary in the coal mine, but for water quality,” said Petokas, who pointed out that it is a shame because there are many misconceptions about the species. “These animals are harmless. They feed on crayfish. They are not poisonous. They aren’t
Click here to visit Dr. Petokas’ website
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Death by 1,000 cuts Kaunert: Scientists may not know
why hellbenders are declining, but they know how
Matt Kaunert, of Lycoming College, and some of his students check out a juvenile hellbender found while installing artificial nest boxes.
Hunched over on all fours in the middle of a rustic mountain stream, Matt Kaunert care - fully studied the placement of a concrete nesting box he and his Lycoming College stu - dents built earlier in the summer and placed in the waterway that morning. Suddenly, his face popped up out of the water and he jumped up with a net and something small squirming inside. “Check this out!” he yelled back to the students, showing them a young hellbender – just a couple of inches long – that he spotted
near the artificial nesting box. “That was one of three juvenile hellbend - ers just out of the gill-larval stage, so that is at least a good sign,” he said later in a more formal interview. “So, in some areas at least, there is some survival and reproduction. That is encouraging.” Gaining an appreciation Kaunert recently took over as the director of Lycoming College’s Clean Water Insti - tute after spending most of his life studying
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Students work with Matt Kaunert in creating hellbender nest boxes earlier this summer.
the Eastern hellbender in the western half of Pennsylvania and the numerous issues the species – our state’s largest salamander – faces. “I was always interested in reptiles and amphibians – they are much more mysterious and rarely seen than fish or deer,” he said. “I was reading old field manuals and I came across information about the hellbender in them, and I became aware that there is this giant salamander in our waterways and it blew my mind. “It’s this ancient sort of thing like out of a folk tale or a monster movie that initially drew me in. But then I learned a little bit more – that they’re so poorly understood. I know people that own property with really good hellbender habitat that don’t even know they exist. Coincidentally, growing up, some of the streams I played in as a boy had some of the healthiest populations range-wide, so all that kind of came together and put me on the ground floor of a unique conservation challenge at a young age.” Unfortunately, too many people think that hellbenders are poisonous or deplete
natural trout hatcheries, “and none of that is true,” Kaunert said. “They are harmless to humans. They are very seldom seen. They are an ancient component of these Appala - chian stream systems that have been around for millions of years and kind of operate like a mesopredator near the top of the food chain, eating a lot of crayfish and are an integral part of the ecosystem.” He said that too many people ask what hellbenders do for the ecosystem. “The real question is what they reveal about the ecosystem – that’s really what’s important,” Kaunert said. “If you have a real - ly dense reproductively active group of hell - benders, that’s a really good sign that things are going well in your waterway.” A thousand cuts Hellbenders, as a species, have experi - enced a dramatic decline due to a number of factors, according to Kaunert, including the fact that they live under large rocks – sometimes as big as the hood of a car – in the benthic zone of clean streams.
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Nest box work has allowed researchers to better understand hellbender behaviors with their eggs and how that may be impacting their longterm survival.
“High sedimentation rates have been suspected to negatively impact hellbender habitat,” he said. “It can crowd out those crevices that they need under large rocks.” However, that is just one of many probable issues facing the species. “It is probably one of those death-by-a- thousand-cuts sort of situation,” Kaunert add - ed. “Land use change has impacted water quality. There’s emerging pathogens we’ve been watching like chytrid fungus and rhino - virus. There’s been cases of illegal poaching for the pet trade. So there’s been a number of different things that are probably going on.” While he pointed out that scientists don’t necessarily know exactly why hellbenders are declining, they know how they are declining. “That goes back to chronically depressed recruitment and reproduction where the
survival of that younger-sized class just isn’t there,” he said. Studying nest behavior Better understanding that process goes back to Kaunert’s main focus since his work in western Pennsylvania – the nest box. “Basically, these are cement structures that mimic their natural habitat and they offer a novel tool to evaluate trends in reproduc - tion and recruitment in the species,” he said. “We’ve constructed hundreds of these and placed them across historically monitored populations in western PA and basically are using them to collect data on hellbender breeding and nesting behavior, which has been historically impossible or at least very difficult to collect.” These boxes, which include a fitting for underwater cameras, allow Kaunert and his
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team to look at phenom - ena such as a recent Virginia-based study
and now we are getting a lot of solid data returns, so it would be great
that showed male hellbenders can - nibalizing their whole clutch of eggs in certain streams. “We hav- en’t seen any of that in Penn - sylvania. That was related to low riparian for - est cover, while
to employ this as a statewide pro- gram moving
forward, build - ing more part - nerships along
“I know there are a lot of different parts to list a species, but on the whole, I think the hellbenders deserve range-wide federal protection.” - Matt Kaunert
the way.” Protection needed One way to help that process – and the species as a whole – succeed – would be a special protective designation,
all of our sites here have pretty good riparian forest cover, which may explain that,”
he said. “However, we have seen cannibalism in every nest we have monitored – not whole-clutch cannibalism, but typically what we’ve seen is the male will go through this long period of tail-fanning or other care behavior and then comes back and eats one or two eggs. “So while cannibalism is widespread and may be related to chronically suppressed recruitment, it might have a bunch of different functions. It might be related to energy re - serves in some cases, or in other cases it might be an evolutionary strategy to eat the whole clutch.” Since his transition from western PA to Ly - coming College and the Susquehanna River basin, Kaunert is focused on expanding his nest box work and the data it can provide across a larger area. “One of the first things I noticed in taking the job at Lycoming was the elevated awareness in this area. Within a couple of days here, I saw hellbender bumper stickers and beer and art - work and it is all a testament to the long-term work and outreach that has been done before my arrival,” he said. “As I continue to get a bet - ter idea of the hellbender’s status in this area, I want to continue to expand the next box work to northcentral PA and really move this toward a statewide monitoring effort. “It has been a long road to get this set up
according to Kaunert. “I know there are a lot of dif - ferent parts to list a species, but on the whole, I think the hellbenders deserve range- wide federal protection. While they have some regionally stable populations, I guess you could say, in Pennsylvania, they are threatened or endangered in most states where they histor - ically occur,” he said. “Looking at the whole- range map, it is not a good picture.” Specifically, he mentioned midwestern states such as Ohio and Indiana. “In some cases, hellbenders only occur in a single drainage basin within Indiana for instance,” Kaunert said. “So within all these multiple factors, protection would likely go a long way for a lot of these healthy populations to persist like those in Pennsylvania and for others to recover in other states where they are declining precipitously.” He pointed out that we are still building an understanding of what is driving declines in the species, “but where it really lies right now is to restore riparian zones, head start populations and improve water quality. “Doing that, the hellbender could serve as an umbrella species to provide benefits for oth - er sensitive aquatic resources.”
Click here for more about Kaunert’s work
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Worldwide reduction Giant salamander
Dr. Mizuki Takahashi, an asso - ciate professor of biology and animal behavior at Bucknell University, gained an immediate appreciation for giant salaman - ders when his parents gave him a book about them when he was in second or third grade. “I loved the book and imme - diately fell in love with the dino - saur-looking giant creatures that still exist in Japan. In fact, the skeletal structure of the crypto - branchid salamanders has mostly stayed the same over 160 million years! The book also did a great job of illustrating their life histo - ry and the environmental issues such as pollution and concrete banking,” he said. “I have the book in my office at Bucknell and show it to students in my amphibi - an class.” Similar in morphology and life history to the giant salamanders of Japan, hellbenders that live in waterways in the Susquehanna basin are smaller, flatter and bet - ter adapted to aquatic habitats. Takahashi has studied Japanese giant salamanders since 2012 and hellbenders locally since 2014. “Our work so far is mainly based on environmental DNA. We found the presence of hellbenders in the streams where there were no species all share plunge in trends Continued on next page
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state records,” he said. “We did follow-up physical surveys but have yet to locate
there, which we now know benefit us immensely via ecosystem ser- vices,” he said. “Enough psycho - logical studies have shown the
animals. More surveys need to be done in those streams and the main- stem of the Susquehanna River, as little is known about those popula - tions.” Environmen - tal DNA involves collecting stream samples and then
importance of nature in our feelings of happiness. As our society matures in a more sustain -
“I am not optimistic that local people and groups will voluntarily make efforts to protect the species at this point.” - Dr. Mizuki Takahashi
able direction, I believe changes will happen natu - rally. “In our region, we need to improve water quality by preventing and
looking at DNA for mark - ers that would be specific for certain species that would come off skin or other organic matter that would wind up in the water. “My concern is warming water tempera - ture, which may worsen their habitat quality throughout the watershed, in particular those in the mainstem,” said Takahashi. “Hellbend - ers are declining across their range. The Susquehanna watershed is one of the core areas where hellbenders are still present. It is critical to promote education and take ap - propriate conservation actions.” All five giant salamanders in the world – three species in China, one in Japan and hellbenders in the US – are declining. “In China, over-harvesting for human con - sumption has been a major issue. In Japan, concrete banks and dams are the major driv - ers, but recently, the hybridization between the Japanese and the introduced Chinese salamanders has become a severe issue,” he said. “In the US, habitat destruction via dams, diseases and climate change seem to be the primary threats.” Reversing that trend will require a cultural shift, Takahashi suggests. “We live in a financially/economically driv - en society, which has benefited us in many ways. However, through the process, we have lost natural environments and species residing
regulating agricultural runoff and the use of anthropogenic chemi - cals.” That transition can start with awareness of what we have. “People should be proud that hellbenders still live in our region and respect the species and their habitats. Early-age environmental education is critical in promoting pro-nature behaviors. Parents and educators should teach conservation and sustainable use of our resources and how to coexist with non-hu - man species,” said Takahashi. “Researchers like us should be more involved in public out - reach and the public should reach out to us for seminars and nature walks.” Ultimately, it is crucial for us to all learn from our mistakes before it is too late with the hell - bender, suggested Takahashi. “In the past, we lost bison, wolves, elks and mountain lions from the regions. Are we keep - ing the trend or reversing it? Which option would bring a brighter future for the coming generations?” he asked, pointing out that there are no formal protections for the species at this time, “so there is no regally bound set of rules that people must follow. “I am not optimistic that local people and groups will voluntarily make efforts to protect the species at this point.”
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Changing stream structure to build manmade dams or rock cairns can im - pact vital hellbender habitat. Learn more about this in a blog post by Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper Northern Tier Regional Director Emily Shosh by clicking here . Photo by David Herasimtschuk. Pollution minef ield Hellbenders breathe directly through their skin – pollutants and all. Overview storymap of the Susquehanna and some of the main threats
2006 rail car spill a devastating lesson of our ripple effect On June 30, 2006, approximately 30 cars of a Norfolk Southern train derailed in McKean County, dumping more than 40,000 gallons of liquid sodium hydroxide – a substance used for making soaps and detergents – into wetlands and Big Fill Run, Sinnemahoning-Portage Creek and the Driftwood Branch of Sinnemahoning Creek. At least 30 miles of stream were impacted. Fish loss was estimated at half a million over the course of the next half-decade of cleanup, including the watershed’s entire population of hellbenders. While a case like this is extreme, it illustrates how quickly one incident can cause mass destruction. They are still recovering in parts of the area from this event. Read more here 18
PA DEP Brownfields & Hazardous sites cleanup searchable site
This is an issue in a state like Pennsylvania where a record number of waterways are impaired by abandoned mine drainage, agricultural runoff and a long list of other issues including things we are more recently aware of like micro - plastics and PFAs. But that doesn’t even include the numerous investigations of industrial spills and contamina - tions that find their ways into our watershed. The state’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has a searchable online listing
US EPA Superfund pollution site searchable database
of their environmental cleanup and brownfield hazardous sites. However, more extreme situa - tions become elevated to Environ - mental Protection Agency Super - fund sites. And neither of these factor in the countless spills and other immedi - ate impacts of numerous industry within our greater watershed. Some of those wind up at the state’s DEP Continued on next page
office or other agencies for inves - tigation, many (most) others never get reported. Sedimentation and erosion cases are especially impactful for hellbenders as they cover up the large rock structures necessary for species survival. There are a number of caus - es for increased sediment in our waterways, including runoff from logging, agriculture, mining, dirt roads and construction. Another is the ongoing fracking industry across the northern sec - tion of the state. “The lines of Marcellus shale and fracking line up with the range of the hellbender, but we are still just starting to get a better
Sediment flows down Loyalsock Creek after a coffer dam is removed at a natural gas work site. Photo by Barb Jarmoska.
Local stories on pollution topics The following are just a few of numerous articles we have on pollution-related issues from our watershed which help illustrate some of many “minefield” threats hellbenders face locally.
understanding of the hellbender’s reproduction and the mechanisms driving that and there are a lot of questions on the fracking side, and how that can relate and how it can be context de - pendent depending on a specific watershed,” said Matt Kaunert, of Lycoming College, when pressed about if he felt there was a connec - tion between hellbender decline and fracking activity. “It is really hard to say yes or no, but it probably isn’t helping.” The reality is that the hellbender, a species that is more susceptible to impact than others for a number of reasons, is facing a pollution minefield of unknowns, and that is only looking at each pollutant individually. Over the past several years, USGS biologist Vicki Blazer focused on studies in our local river system on estrogen compounds in fish. Then she studied Mercury impacts on fish in a separate study. Most recently, she researched PFAS. “The bottom line is that a fish – or anything in the environment – is exposed to such a com - plex mixture of various stressors. It can really make it hard to know what individual chemical effects may be,” she said. “I think it is important that people recognize that because one of the things we are questioning now with PFAS is their interactions with some of the things we know are already in those fish. How are those contami - nants interacting with each other?” Consider all of that combined with some of these ongoing unknowns about the species: • Why are males cannibalizing eggs?
Studies show microplastics on rise in the region Salinity in our streams on rise from road salt
Research looks into impacts of pharmaceuticals Study: Increase in mercury in certain areas Cleanup still at Williamsport Superfund site Invasive crayfish change stream ecosystem
PFAS in river part of nationwide initiative
Endocrine disruptors impact river
Vet connects sick foals with fracking
The many faces of Abandoned Mine Drainage Fish kills a race against clock, conditions
Gas fracked from under river, other waterways
• What specifically is killing off hellbenders? • How is the current cocktail of contaminants in our waterways really impacting them? Leaving the hellbender without some sort of improved protection system (with actual teeth) to navigate the Susquehanna watershed’s cur - rent pollution minefield is unethical. Help us help this species get the protection it needs before it is too late. www.MiddleSusquehannaRiverkeeper.org
– Riverkeeper John Zaktansky
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Before a nervous, pre-teen Michael Kinney, of Beech Creek, could react to the strange-look - ing creature at the end of his fishing pole, he was distracted by everyone around him. “They started backing away, calling it a mudpuppy. These older guys with tattoos were yell - ing, telling me I should destroy it. That it was bad for the fish – bad for the water,” he recalled. “I got it on the ground, and I re - member it crawling around and getting back into the water. “We didn’t have internet Michael Kinney
This image was taken by Michael Kinney in a stream in our watershed.
Click here to learn about Michael’s Sept. 28 film presentation at the Cam - pus Theatre in Lewis - burg which will include hellbender footage.
Raising awareness You can help make a difference for this species by helping raise awareness. That can come in many different ways ... using your talents and abilities. We share stories on these pages of how others have done so, through photography, videography, teaching, art, music and more. It could be as simple as starting a conversation around the water cooler at your office about this species and directing people to our website for more information. Let us know how you are spreading the word. We’d love to inspire others by showing them how you’re creatively getting involved! Send an email to midsusriver@gmail.com
back then at our fingertips to look things up, but even with all the resources we have today, there are still a lot of wrong ideas out there,” he said. The experience has been one of the main inspirations for Kinney’s work behind the camera to better connection people with nature. “A while ago, I recorded a video of a local hellbender and uploaded it online. Feedback was like 50-50. Some people knew what they were. Others didn’t. Others thought they did,” said Kinney. “I would read the comments and with some I’d be inspired, and with others, I felt as traumatized as I did that day as a kid fishing. It is disappointing that there are still people today that don’t care to understand how valuable hell - benders are and still want to get rid of them.” Today, Kinney is the president of the Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper Association, striving to protect aquatic species such as the hellbender.
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Audrey Shipman
As a child, Au - drey Shipman en - joyed family trips to state parks. “My mom got us into a lot of environ - mental education programming,” she said. “We went to
Sign our petition Each online signature helps us amplify the plight of the hellbender to the US Fish and Wildlife Service before
a Lycoming College for Kids Camp and there was this professor who was into hellbender research, and as a kid I thought these creatures looked pretty cool.” Early in 2023, Shipman signed up for the Middle Susquehanna River - keeper Association’s EELS (Environ - mental Education Leadership for Students) Program and was excited to find hellbenders as an option to then teach kids about. She gave two hellbender presen - tations later that spring one to more than 80 first-graders in Hughesville and another to nearly 30 elementa - ry students at Meadowbrook Chris - tian School using materials from the association. “I was surprised at how interested the kids were about the hellbenders and it felt so cool how this all was coming full circle for me. Hearing about the hellbender case and being a small part of helping spread awareness – of giving this quiet creature a bigger voice – there is something special about that.”
they make a decision on whether or not to give the species a federal protec -
tion. Help us help the hell - bender. Click here to sign and share with your friends!
Photo by Isaac Szabo
Check out the Center for Biologic Diversity’s hellbender page with more info and additional opportunity for action. Additional opportunity
Can’t sign our online petition? Click here for a printable version you can mail to our office!
Click here to check out several original songs written specifically to raise awareness about the hellbender
Artwork by teacher Brooke Shockey
www.MiddleSusquehannaRiverkeeper.org/hellbenders.html
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Learn more about the groups that partnered for hellbender protections
Help the hellbender Sign the petition
chng.it/8nVRWfmdCh
Learn more at
www.MiddleSusquehannaRiverkeeper.org
Photo by Isaac Szabo
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