Riverkeeper's note: The following is the introductory column by Riverkeeper John Zaktansky from the new e-magazine shared above or at this link. We also share below that the main stories from the same publication, interviews with Peter Petokas, Matt Kaunert and Mizuki Takahashi in blog form. We have included audio players for podcast conversations with Petokas and Kaunert. You can check out the new online petition to help push for protections for hellbenders by clicking here.
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 projects and other major situations – to lay down in bed at night and zero 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 control, 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 hellbender as I helped Dr. Peter Petokas this past July.
However, when a group files for a NPDES (National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) permit for earth disturbance related to any waterway, 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 Institute 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 differences 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, nocturnal 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. Right now, officials are fighting to reintroduce species in PA that 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. Help us let the USFWS know the hellbender deserves protection by clicking the button below to sign the online petition. Once thriving, now declining: Only a few pockets of ideal hellbender habitat remain in our river basin
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 regurgitated pieces of recently devoured and partially digested crayfish.
A few minutes later, it spewed out a few additional segments representing 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!”
It can grow up to 30 inches long and nearly five pounds in weight and lives in the water – 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 waterways 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 Susquehanna River basin once was home to the species in the West Branch, North Branch, main stem and its tributaries. “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 disappeared, 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 Petokas, “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 indication 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 fissures 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. “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 spraying 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 causing 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. “So, there are multiple factors, multiple stressors that probably interact in some synergistic 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.” 
Some of Dr. Peter Petokas' main work involves collaborating with the Bronx Zoo to raise juvenile hellbenders and release them in areas of the watershed that have improved habitat.
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 involvement in reproduction by these head-started reintroduced animals. “That would be, for us at least, a moment of real success – when we see reproduction by reintroduced animals in the wild.” Such a result, he added, would highlight the potential for successful hellbender repopulation efforts in the future although it all goes back to making sure habitat is suitable first. “That is where I feel the effort should be focused is on-the-ground applied conservation projects. In addition to captured rearing and reproducing 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 environmental 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 going to attack you or bite you unless you are to grab them and wrestle with them, but as a rule, they are pretty innocuous and harmless animals.” Which is why he feels that outreach and education about the nature of these animals is really important. “It isn’t just that they are big, but that they are unique in so many different 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 governmental protection is necessary at least until populations are more stabilized. “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,” 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 important 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.” Death by 1,000 cuts: Scientists may not know why hellbenders are declining, but they know how
Matt Kaunert, left, shows his students a juvenile hellbender he found while checking an artificial nest box they placed in a stream.
Hunched over on all fours in the middle of a rustic mountain stream, Matt Kaunert carefully studied the placement of a concrete nesting box he and his Lycoming College students 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 hellbenders 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.”
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 Appalachian 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 really dense reproductively active group of hellbenders, that’s a really good sign that things are going well in your waterway.” A thousand cuts Hellbenders, as a species, have experienced 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. “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 added. “Land use change has impacted water quality. There’s emerging pathogens we’ve been watching like chytrid fungus and rhinovirus. 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. 
A hellbender is seen in its nesting box with eggs in this image. New data is being collected and much more is being learned about hellbender behavior around eggs which could help us understand their declines in our area.
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 reproduction 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 team to look at phenomena such as a recent Virginia-based study that showed male hellbenders cannibalizing their whole clutch of eggs in certain streams. “We haven’t seen any of that in Pennsylvania. That was related to low riparian forest cover, while 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 reserves 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 Lycoming 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 artwork 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 better 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 and now we are getting a lot of solid data returns, so it would be great to employ this as a statewide program moving forward, building more partnerships along the way.” Protection needed One way to help that process – and the species as a whole – succeed – would be a special protective designation, according to Kaunert. “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. While they have some regionally stable populations, I guess you could say, in Pennsylvania, they are threatened or endangered in most states where they historically 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 other sensitive aquatic resources.” Worldwide reduction: Giant salamander species share similar trends in declines across the globe
Dr. Mizuki Takahashi, of Bucknell University, has studied giant salamander species in Japan as well as hellbenders in the Susquehanna River basin. All of them see a similar decline in numbers.
Dr. Mizuki Takahashi, an associate professor of biology and animal behavior at Bucknell University, gained an immediate appreciation for giant salamanders when his parents gave him a book about them when he was in second or third grade.
“I loved the book and immediately fell in love with the dinosaur-looking giant creatures that still exist in Japan. In fact, the skeletal structure of the cryptobranchid salamanders has mostly stayed the same over 160 million years! The book also did a great job of illustrating their life history 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 amphibian 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 better adapted to aquatic habitats. Takahashi has studied Japanese giant salamanders since 2012 and hellbenders locally since 2014.
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 consumption has been a major issue. In Japan, concrete banks and dams are the major drivers, 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 driven society, which has benefited us in many ways. However, through the process, we have lost natural environments and species residing there, which we now know benefit us immensely via ecosystem services,” he said. “Enough psychological studies have shown the importance of nature in our feelings of happiness. As our society matures in a more sustainable direction, I believe changes will happen naturally. “In our region, we need to improve water quality by preventing and regulating agricultural runoff and the use of anthropogenic chemicals.” 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-human species,” said Takahashi. “Researchers like us should be more involved in public outreach 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 hellbender, suggested Takahashi. “In the past, we lost bison, wolves, elks and mountain lions from the regions. Are we keeping 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.” Column: Already susceptible to pollution, species navigates minefield of contaminants and unknowns
Hellbenders breathe efficiently through their wrinkled skin, taking in pollution as well as oxygen. That means any contaminants in the water they inhabit can be fatal. Plus, changes in rock structures, such as manmade dams or cairns like the tower in the image above, can impact the species. Image by David Herasimtschuk.
Riverkeeper note: The following is a column from Riverkeeper John Zaktansky looking at the some of the pollutant concerns impacting hellbenders.
Hellbenders breathe directly through their skin – pollutants and all. 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 microplastics and PFAs. But that doesn’t even include the numerous investigations of industrial spills and contaminations that find their ways into our watershed.
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 complex 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 contaminants interacting with each other?” Consider all of that combined with some of these ongoing unknowns about the species:
Leaving the hellbender without some sort of improved protection system (with actual teeth) to navigate the Susquehanna watershed’s current pollution minefield is unethical. Help us help this species get the protection it needs before it is too late. Raising awareness: Michael Kinney's encounter as a kid inspires photo and video education efforts
Before a nervous, pre-teen Michael Kinney, of Beech Creek, could react to the strange-looking 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 yelling, 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 remember it crawling around and getting back into the water.
Today, Kinney is the president of the Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper Association, striving to protect aquatic species such as the hellbender.
Raising awareness: Audrey Shipman volunteered as a student to share hellbender info to younger kids
As a child, Audrey Shipman enjoyed family trips to state parks.
“My mom got us into a lot of environmental education programming,” she said. “We went to 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 Riverkeeper Association’s EELS (Environmental Education Leadership for Students) Program and was excited to find hellbenders as an option to then teach kids about. She gave two hellbender presentations later that spring one to more than 80 first-graders in Hughesville and another to nearly 30 elementary students at Meadowbrook Christian 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.”
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AuthorsRiverkeeper John Zaktansky is an award-winning journalist and avid promoter of the outdoors who loves camping, kayaking, fishing and hunting with the family. Archives
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Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper is a member of Waterkeeper Alliance. Riverkeeper is a registered trademark and service mark of Riverkeeper, Inc. and is licensed for use herein. Waterkeeper is a registered trademark and service mark of Waterkeeper Alliance, Inc. and is licensed for use herein.