Manding Nguyen

After the break, we go spelunking.

Unexplainable, I'm Mandy Nguyen.

We've been following Andy's journey to find the missing Blanco blind salamander.

Its last known location, the Edwards Aquifer, and the best clue to find it, its DNA.

But finding the Blanco blind salamander would only be the starting point to unraveling its mysterious life.

If the Blanco blind salamander were a missing person, we'd be interviewing close friends, family, community members.

Because to know a salamander, you need to know what it's connected to.

Sweet.

Benji and I wanted to see the world of the salamanders for ourselves.

To know the other pieces that make up the whole.

So Andy took us on a field trip.

The Edwards Aquifer is through this cave.

Looking downstream at the creek, it's green and pristine blue as far as the eye can see.

Standing at the edge of this creek, listening to the birds and the water flowing, it's hard to imagine that the source of all this is beyond that cave and deep underground.

Is that where we're going to be heading into?

Cool.

Immediately cool air.

Oh, wow.

Pitch black already.

We slip into the cave entrance, and the temperature drops dramatically.