As the Endangered Species Act turns 50, Georgia searches for populations of elusive salamanders

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December 6th, 2023

A hellbender lays in a halved-white plastic tube with a ruler installed on the side to measure its length. The salamander glistens in the sun, a dark, splotchy brown color like a wet leaf in a river.
Floyd said the hellbender's head looks like a rock and their tail looks like wet leaves. He measures one in a homemade device, a halved-tube with a ruler he installed. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)

In a cold, burbling mountain stream in north Georgia, Georgia Department of Natural Resources wildlife biologist Thomas Floyd is on his hands and knees.

He’s feeling around rocks, peeking his head under the water with goggles on to find a little hole. 

If he’s lucky, he’ll find a salamander: the hellbender. 

A close-up photo of a hellbender's face and little eyes.
The head of a hellbender. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)

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