Herpetologist Andy Sabin leads night search for blue-spotted salamander in Bridgehampton

Monica StanlyMarch 1, 2023

Andy Sabin of Bridgehampton, a respected herpetologist and president of the South Fork Museum of Natural History and Nature, will go looking for the blue-spotted salamander this Saturday, March 4 at 7:30 pm ET.

Montauk Spring Ponds is one of the few places in the world where you can find a purebred blue-spotted salamander. Andy Sabin will lead this overnight expedition to find this unique native species. This walk will take place only if there were heavy rains.

In New York, this salamander is found unevenly outside of highland areas; on Long Island it occurs only in the farthest eastern reaches. The habitat of the blue-spotted salamander is the moist forest floor of deciduous or mixed forests near ephemeral water bodies.

Blue-spotted salamanders are 3.9 to 5.5 inches long. Their skin is bluish-black, with distinctive blue and white patches on their backs and bluish-white patches on the sides of their body and tail. They have an elongated body and long toes: four on the front paws and five on the back. Males are generally smaller than females, although they have longer, flattened tails.

ANDY SABIN UPCOMING WALKS IN SALAMANDER

March 11, 2023, 7:30 pm – Andy Sabin’s second walk with a blue-spotted salamander.

Montauk Spring Ponds is one of the few places in the world where you can find a purebred blue-spotted salamander. Andy Sabin will lead this night expedition in search of this unique native species. This walk will take place only if there were heavy rains.

March 18, 2023, 8:00 PM – Andy Sabin’s annual spotted salamander search:

On this walk to one of the spring ponds, Andy Sabin will be looking for the spotted salamander, one of the four native mole salamanders. This walk will take place only if there were heavy rains.

ABOUT ANDY SABIN

Andrew Sabin, Chairman of Sabin Metal Corporation, established the Andrew Sabin Family Foundation in 2008 to make his philanthropic work more effective. Sabin, who is president of the South Fork Natural History Center and Museum of Nature, is an environmental activist who supports responsible leadership, humanity and the earth to help future generations choose climate-conscious leaders. Each year, the foundation provides approximately 200 grants to protect the environment, strengthen our communities, and advance cancer research. Our local and global initiatives have one common goal: to build a healthier world for all of us.

About SOFO

The South Fork Museum of Natural History (SOFO) and Nature Center is the only modern natural history museum in South Fork, Long Island. Founded in 1988 by a group of South Fork naturalists called The Nature Clubhouse in Amagansett, the museum opened at its permanent location in May 2005 in eastern Suffolk County at 377 Bridgehampton/Sag Harbor Turnpike in Bridgehampton, New York. The South Fork Natural History Museum and Nature Center, a place for children and adults of all ages to discover, explore, learn and participate, is open seven days a week except Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day from 10:00 a.m. until 16:00 www.sofo.org.