Reaching 1.5 meters in length, the Japanese giant salamander will need more than its size to battle daunting odds. Environmental degradation and loss of habitat have led to a decline in these "living fossils" that have remained relatively unchanged in 170 million years. After heavy rains caused massive damage to one region's towns and rivers, a team of experts, assisted by local schoolchildren, launches a project to locate and return their amphibian neighbors that have been washed downstream.