California Newt

“Photographing the activity of amphibians and reptiles underwater has become a huge interest of mine over the past several years. Of all the species I’ve been lucky to spend time observing underwater, perhaps my favorite is the California Newt (Taricha torosa). They are bold, exhibit a wealth of intriguing behaviors, and are just beautiful animals. However, the water they inhabit is often not so beautiful. This was taken in a cattle pond that herds of bovines would visit daily to drink from, wallow in, and use as a latrine. So I opted to wade and dip my camera underwater rather than submerge myself. Every spring, the newts congregate at this pond, and an explosion of activity ensues, with males pursuing females, mating balls rolling through the shallows, egg-laying, other newts sneaking in to cannibalize eggs, and more.

Usually, when I’ve seen the newts feed, it’s been a quick snap at small prey items and nearly impossible to photograph—with the exception of cannibalizing eggs, which is often a long, arduous process as the newt cannot swallow a large egg mass whole. This newt and worm predation fell more on the difficult side of the spectrum and is the only time I’ve seen this behavior so far. This California Newt could not quite wrestle the still-wriggling worm down and was simultaneously dashing from place to place in the pond, attempting to evade other newts that might steal its worm. By moving slowly and guessing where the newt might swim to, I was able to get a few portraits of the newt wrestling with its oversized meal.

California Newts are endemic to California and common in much of the state, although populations are declining due to extreme weather, road mortality, habitat loss, and invasives like mosquitofish and crayfish. Famously, these newts secrete Tetrodotoxin in their skin and tissues, and though they are not nearly as toxic as their congener, the Rough-skinned Newt (Taricha granulosa), the potent neurotoxin is enough to deter most predators.” – Anton Sorokin