Mysterious underwater world

On Saturday, 1 April, 2 p.m., the travelling exhibition "Mysterious Underwater World - Of Fish, Crabs, Shells, Snails and More" will be launched with a vernissage at the Peitz Ironworks and Fisheries Museum. Further stops of the touring exhibition are the Müritzeum Waren/Müritz and the Natural History Museum Potsdam. On display are 40 large-format photographs in which diver, photographer and author Mario Merkel spectacularly stages the local underwater world. More than 12,000 natural lakes, rivers, streams and canals as well as open-cast mining lakes, dredging lakes and reservoirs form Germany's network of water bodies between the Bodden and Lake Constance. These areas, which are worthy of protection, are of inestimable economic and touristic value. Beneath the surface of the water lies a secret world that is completely unknown to most people. Here, agile predators with sharp teeth hunt their prey, crabs fight for supremacy, countless tiny creatures and mussels filter the water and huge shoals of glittering juvenile fish move through primeval forests of aquatic plants. After more than 1,300 dives in 200 waters in Germany, photographer Mario Merkel can point to many exciting experiences and adventures with the inhabitants of the local underwater world. Through the pictures, Merkel takes the viewer on a journey under water, abducted into an almost unknown realm of life, light and colours. But his pictures also show that sensitive habitat whose diversity, beauty and preservation depend primarily on us humans.