Fascinating Wildlife in Deep Mountain Lake | Full Documentary

Germany's inland waterways, rivers, streams and lakes are colourful and in some cases almost pristine natural havens. Hardly two bodies of water are the same. A magical exploration into their depths will offer an insight into bizarre and often completely unknown worlds. From a microcosm of millions of tiny dancing creatures, to strange immigrants, to the giants of the deep – sturgeon and catfish, our largest native freshwater fish. A special expedition takes viewers from the snow-capped peaks and glaciers of the Alps, to the low Mittelgebirge, to the North Sea, revealing perhaps the most colourful aspect of Germany's natural world, but certainly the least known: our local seas.

The journey begins at the Watzmann mountain. Every year, tiny drops of water are released from the roof of the Eiskapelle (“Ice Chapel”), gathering to form small streams, before thundering down into the valley as the Eisbach. The Röthbach, fed by large amounts of melted snow, similarly drops 475 m, considered the highest waterfall in Germany, before drying up at the foot of the massif.

We begin our exploration of a fascinating universe at Lake Königssee, near Berchtesgaden. The beauty of this underwater world is breathtaking. Pike, perch and minnows are all part of this turquoise “fantasyland”. The journey follows the water down the valley, partly above ground and partly underground. Next up is Germany’s deepest lake, Lake Constance, and its inhabitants such as the giant catfish, which can reach an astonishing 3 metres in length. The camera is angled down the side of the Marienschlucht to capture Germany’s largest inland ship graveyard, hidden from all sunlight. Come spring, life revolves around mating, cub-rearing and hunting. From Lake Constance, we head into the Black Forest to the mysterious Schluchsee, with its dark waters and the biodiverse Wutachschlucht, Germany’s longest gorge. With its countless karst caves carved by water over millions of years, the Swabian Jura is like something from another planet. Its eerie drip caves and underground lakes remain unexplored today. Altrhein, known as the German Amazon, similarly gives reason to doubt whether its magnificent underwater world is really part of our local natural landscape. The vibrant, colourful mats of bacteria that form on the floor of the Rheinaue wetlands in autumn are reminiscent of distant galaxies, surreal and beautiful. The first part ends under the ice blanket that protects the currently dormant underwater inhabitants. The second part moves into northern Germany, where there is a completely different underwater world.

State-of-the-art underwater photography equipment, as well as cranes and aerial photography, are used to show a previously unseen side of Germany, providing a fascinating journey into the unexplored depths of the country, from the Alps to the Rhine.