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My first interaction with a hellbender was profound. Imagine putting your head underwater in a cool mountain stream and inadvertently coming face-to-face with a gigantic, 15-inch aquatic salamander. We were snorkeling in a clear Pennsylvania mountain stream, looking at crayfish and taking photos of fish with our underwater camera. I peered under a rock to get a closer look at a colorful darter, and there it was: a snot otter, the alligator of the Alleghenies, a devil dog, a grampus. Known by many names, the eastern hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis) is a species of giant salamander endemic to eastern North America. It is a completely aquatic amphibian and can grow to be quite large — the record is almost 30 inches.
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Weasels are some of the few mammals that turn white during the winter. These small, but highly-skilled predators can be found throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed and once had a significant role in the fur trade during European colonization of North America.
This list of 10 of my favorite Chesapeake Bay species aims to bring you a little closer to these magnificent critters with which we share the environment. All of the photos have been taken by me in the Chesapeake Bay watershed where I spend most of my time.
Forests for the Bats, a Halloween takeover of the Alliance’s Forests for the Bay newsletter, is all about celebrating our Chesapeake forests and the peak of autumn, which is largely our favorite time to be in the woods.
Catching a glimpse of an elk within the watershed is a memorable and uncommon experience due to elk’s limited range. Active management and research on elk populations allow hunters, tourists, and nature enthusiasts to hear the sound of a bull elk bugle today
