Hellbender, the lifer

Not a lifer. THE lifer.

For as long as I have loved amphibians I have dreamed about finding a hellbender. I would picture myself diving into the cold clear water in which they inhabit and just coming across one tucked into a rock, waiting for prey. Having been on countless snorkeling trips, mainly looking for native darters, shiners, and minnow the possibility was always in the front of my mind. scanning the rivers just hoping to catch a glimpse of this mega sized animal.

On June 7th a group of us went out with one thing on our mind: hellbender. A coworker had tipped us off to a good location but with hellbenders even the best spots offered no guarantees. Equipped with a new wetsuit shel and I jumped in scanning back and forth. Surrounded by one of the most abundant areas for native fish I have seen. Redline darters in full breeding color, greensided darters, banded sculpin, hogsuckers, and more shiners than I could count. One could almost be drawn in to the stunning beauty of the fish alone, but I was on a mission.

After an hour and a half Shel was running out of steam, And in need desperate need of some snacks. It isn't easy fighting the current. After I wasted no time jumping back in and searched and searched. an hour goes by and nothing. two and I'm wiped. It was obvious that today wasn't the day, and it was time for me to sluggishly work my way back up the river. I'm absolutely spent, bear crawling rock by rock until... It happened.

There it was. A sub-adult hellbender drifting right Infront of me.

My eyes locked on to not lose them until I saw where it landed, then I raised up and shouted "ITS RIGHT HERE! I FOUND ONE!".

B runs my phone to me to take some photos, I’m locked into its location. I try to take a photo, but I got to close, it was spooked. ok calm down I tell myself. and just watch. I couldn't tell you how much time passed but I just sat and watched, looking over every detail. just taking in this rare find. Then as gracefully as it appeared it drifted off, on the hunt for another crayfish.

It was an honor to be able to witness one of these elusive animals in the wild, and this is an experience that I won’t soon forget. Here is the river-blown, low-light, finger in the frame video I got. It won’t be winning any photography awards but will always be one of my favorites.