The Fascinating World of Deep Mountain Lakes | Full Documentary

mountains of ice just like the arctic south sea islands fabled castles the alps have many different faces lynxes and ibexes live in the highlands the king of the air and his favorite prey the world up here is ice cold and dangerous bone chilling frost stunning limestone caves and magically sparkling lakes the mist lifts to reveal breathtaking views of enchanting underwater worlds never seen before in the middle of europe a wonderland a world of bizarre creatures and their extraordinary stories the alps as we know them packed full of well-known names the matahorn the vats man and

the white mountain montblanc this alpine mountain range crosses through europe in a wide arc for 750 miles more than 120 of the mountains are over 13 000 feet high a folded mountain range created by tectonic plates that have been pushing against each other for many millions of years covered with a layer of snow and ice only specialized climbers survive here always living on the limit chamois use the sharp edges of their hooves like climbing irons they also use them to search for new plant growth moss and lichen in the cold winters once spring comes around

the slightly thawed snow masses easily start to slide and some climbers lives end abruptly frozen in the ice in a different world a lesser-known side of the alps begins underneath the water's surface filled with crystal-clear water from the snow melt ice will drift on the lake surfaces like icebergs in greenland until early summer water temperatures are as low as a refrigerator but nevertheless very soon these lakes will be the nursing grounds for many different creatures inhabited by animals that no one would expect to find at 7500 feet once the ice starts to melt in the

springtime sun mysterious alpinists will awaken common toads are starting their mating rituals the females carry their male partners around with them on their backs she will wander far and wide to find a gap in the ice surface of the lake alpine newts are also drawn to the water the newts and the toads have spent the coldest time of the year in hibernation they've been hidden away for months dug deep into the earth or holes in the rocks where they were protected from the frost now spring fever has taken hold of them and they will become

aquatic animals for a few months with a large fringe on their tail the males in their mating dress a water louse quickly becomes the first meal of the year this newt eats alone others fiercely fight for a worm all around melting snow fills the streams and bizarre creatures appear these adult brook lampreys have spent the first three to four years of their lives hidden away in the sand as larvae the brook lampreys have not only developed internal sexual organs but also seven gill openings on each side of their bodies in addition to an eye and

a nostril opening which makes them look like they have nine eyes they do not need food now but they busily carry rocks through the stream they're building spawning grounds in which they will lay their eggs during mating the males will suck tight onto the females and wriggle around their bodies sometimes up to 20 animals attach themselves to each other in a long line during mating after that they die right at the beginning of spring the snow has already melted in the valley but the trees still have no leaves some streams seem to bubble with fish

vimba breem are migrating upstream in great numbers in order to spawn some fish species are especially skillful at navigating barriers and some are even able to climb up steps the danube bleak for example these eight-inch long fishes migrate upstream through very fast flowing streams during the month of may densely packed side by side they were heavily fished in earlier times so it's rare to see such large schools the bleak have very specific spawning grounds where they will meet every female will lay 10 to 15 000 eggs the eggs are very sticky and will stay put

between the rocks even in this strong current to be fertilized by the male's sperm soon the stream is covered with eggs they drift towards the late comers that still have to spawn it looks like a wild snow storm they will all die from exhaustion shortly after spawning covering the next generation of danube bleaks almost eight thousand feet high at the matahorn the idyllic stelli lake algae are already proliferating the aquatic plants offer a place for the common toads to reproduce salientia prefer to spawn in water that is at least a foot and a half deep

tightly clinging on to each other they like to attach their eggs to solid structures their egg strings are several feet long and are twisted around algae branches twigs and reeds like christmas lights the alpine newts do it a bit differently if only a few feet away their mating rituals also take place in shallower waters with its tail the male fans an alluring scent towards the female that smells of parsley quite differently from their neighbors though the newts do not cling to each other during mating they barely touch if anything the female may nudge the male

in his side with her head it is his signal to release his spermatophores she then receives the jelly-like mixture full of sperm and takes off right after several days later she will lay up to 300 eggs with her hind leg she rolls ice cream cone-like structures made out of leaves in which she lays one egg each the little newt larvae that already looks similar to their parents will develop inside these cones the larvae of the common toad on the other hand look quite different from their parents at the beginning depending on the temperature in the

mountains it can be between two and four weeks until the tadpoles hatch by the thousand it will be several months before they look like a common toad spring is arriving cowbells birds eye primrose and other spring bloomers bring color to the mountains an ibex uses the last snow to sled during this time of the year the bucks come together in all male groups the short-tailed weasel still in its white winter coat watches them during their friendly tussles after half a year of hibernation the marmots are also starting to wake up they are hungry because they

have lost a third of their body weight they're leaving their dens during the day now but they always have to be alert because they're the favorite meal of the eagles a golden eagle will feed on 70 marmots during the breeding season montblanc is the highest mountain of the alps 15 781 feet high the city of nse is located at the foot of montblanc because of its many canals it's also called the venice of the alps nearly twelve and a half miles southwards the lac du bois bears a dark secret in its depths on their way

down the divers come across a seething mass in a crack between the rocks a large school of barbels have taken cover here the divers have startled them it's the end of their winter hibernation barbels can grow up to three feet long during the colder period of the year they gather in large groups in quiet areas these pictures are extremely rare and this behavior has never been filmed before further down at around 350 feet a wreck from world war ii on march the 30th 1943 the german reconnaissance aircraft fokker wolf flew too close to the water's

surface during a training flight and crashed two pilots drowned in the freezing lake and two others were rescued by french fishermen it took fifty years until the aircraft was found at the bottom of the lac du bois berberts have made a home in the wreck they are predators and they can grow to more than three feet in length they live at the bottom of deep lakes hidden away and an old nazi wreck is the perfect place for them countless small streams gurgle down into the alpine valleys from the high mountain peaks and fill up small

lakes nestled deep inside enchanted forests of the lakes are full of trees that couldn't carry the weight of the snow during winter and cracked off into the lake it takes a longer time for the tree stumps to decay in the cold water covered with algae they provide a mysterious underwater landscape perfect for this bizarre time traveler the sterlit is part of the sturgeon family they are prime evil fishes that have barely changed in the last 200 million years sterlitz can grow up to three feet in length and they live in flowing bodies of water but

also in more quiet lakes such as this one here they can search for worms snails crabs and small fishes between the branches and the lake bottom several small creeks come together and form noisy bubbling swelling rivulets rapids provide the headwater with lots of oxygen where river trout and grailings brave the raging stream in order to save energy the fishes like to gather behind roots and rocks where the current is not as strong this is also where the danube salmon have made their home they are predators that can weigh up to 70 pounds and they lurk

in deep troughs in the shallower water to hunt for prey fast flowing alpine brooks are also the preferred hunting grounds for this very special bird the dipper it catches insects like fleas and their larvae by plunging into the fast-flowing brook the dipper is the only songbird that can also swim and dive up to 30 seconds long the bird uses its wings to swim and also clings to the bottom with its claws within seconds its feathers are dry and the bird is ready to fly again a special preen gland makes their dense plumage waterproof it's the

breeding season the dipper builds a nest made of moss and small sticks close to the water's edge to bridges or walls along the brook the young are fed for three weeks by their parents until they themselves plunge into the water to search for food the fairytale castle of neuschwanstein built by the bavarian king ludwig ii from a bird's eye view the king of the air has an eerie nearby protected by a large rock face the mother feeds her small hatchling still dressed in its fluffy white down she pulls bite-sized pieces off the prey to gently

feed to her hatchling during the first few weeks the male almost solely supplies them with food after a month once the hatchling has grown regular feathers it will stay alone for most of the day because the mother will then also start providing food lake alp close to neuschwanstein it's known to be one of the cleanest lakes in germany a father is taking care of his offspring hidden between tree stumps the pike perch spawns in the spring in shallow areas this aggressive predator watches over its nest and attacks anybody that comes too close the eggs would

be a welcome change from the normal menu of the sterlite and the hungry barbels are known nest robbers the pike perch is kept busy the female has left it to the male to protect their eggs she has already done more than enough a female pike perch will lay more than 100 000 eggs the juveniles will hatch after eight to twelve days until then the male has to fan fresh water onto the eggs on a rock ledge above neuschwanstein the eagle chick has grown quite a bit both parents are doing a great job taking care of

the little guy they bring in food constantly eagles are also able to prey on shamwa fawns and carry them up to the nest only a few minutes by air the mysterious alat lake is said to be a blood lake from the outside the alat lake looks like many other lakes in the alps but at a depth of 45 feet that dramatically changes this is where the blood cloud begins red and violet clouds drift through the water from this point on the water has almost no oxygen in it these clouds consist of purple sulfur bacteria they

live off the toxic hydrogen sulfide that the water here contains in high concentrations for thousands of years the sulfur-rich toxic water has stayed at the bottom of the lake without mixing with the upper water column at times the bacteria grow to create a dense blanket nevertheless there are always fishes that dare to go into the toxic zone but most of them will perish there the allat lake is unique amongst all alpine lakes the idyllic tyrolean double is only about 20 miles away as the crow flies the fernstein lake with its hilly island and scenic shoreline

and only 600 feet further the smaller samaranga lake it is known for its crystal clear water and underground springs because of the extreme visibility of the lake up to 150 feet it's a popular spot for scuba divers it's so clear that it said you can see from one shoreline to the next at times a tranquil turquoise cosmos this little lake is only 55 feet deep but it has something unfathomable about it across in the midst of old tree stumps it's a reminder of a fatal scuba diving accident in the 1970s in order to keep its

mystical atmosphere no more than four divers are allowed to dive in the samaranga lake at one time they're urged not to kick up too much sediment because it could choke the aquatic plants the water is very cold never warmer than 45 degrees fahrenheit even during the summer months so it would take years for the plants to grow back brook trout prefer to live in the open water these pretty fishes originally came from north america and were released here and in many other alpine lakes where they have been steadily reproducing despite the fact that this brook

trout is currently more interested in a fling of a different kind the grayling with its flag-like back fin does not chase away this little flirt forbidden love in an alpine lake at the vats man in the bachelor's garden alps there are traces of a surprising past springtime on an alp cows spend this time of the year grazing on these hilltop pastures traditionally the cows wear a large cowbell around their necks so that they can be more easily found should they get lost this is an old tradition in the alps it's also traditional to decorate the

front of alpine homes with fossilized cattle footprint shells as good luck charms the fossils found here in the mountains are from an ancient ocean on the slopes of the vats man deep inside lake kernig there are even more fossils sancte bartolome on the western shore of lake kernig on the hirsha peninsula the chapel was named in honor of the patron saint of alpine farmers and fishermen fishing was only allowed after his saints day on august the 24th that's also when the spawning period is over it's april and the arctic char are late in starting their

mating rituals near the shore the males are trying to impress the females with their beautiful mating colors it's only during the mating season that their stomachs glow bright red their signal also attracts uninvited guests the berbert will not pass up an opportunity this easy while the two males are competing for the females attention they only have eyes for each other the chars totally ignore the predator well camouflaged the berbert carefully sneaks up on the chars while they are mating and this is the moment the berbert has been waiting for fresh eggs a perfect meal for

the predator he is a nest robber and often sucks out the eggs of other fish from between the coarse gravel further down in lake kernig there are even more of those good luck charms a rock wall full of fossilized cattle footprints megalodon toydia these prehistoric shellfish lift here over 100 million years ago in a shallow temperate ocean the alps were folded up into a mountain range much later but some of these fossilized shells ended up deep inside the lake while others were pushed up high what was once the ocean floor is now the alps the

same happened in the dolomites the southern limestone alps devil's claw blooms here during the summer time potentia knapweed and the turks cap lily they all thrive in the limestone-rich soil of the dolomites that mostly stems from prehistoric reefs where corals once grew in the ocean marmots romp around today they feed on three pounds of grass and herbs every day in order to gain enough weight for their winter hibernation they gain nearly one ounce per day but all of a sudden the peace and quiet is over an unfamiliar marmot has wandered into the territory of this

family unit the unit consists of about 20 rodents and they defend their family against all intruders early practice makes perfect juvenile marmots often tussle with each other through play they learn how to defend their position within the hierarchy of the family unit as quickly as it started it's over and everybody goes back to feeding gaining enough weight is important right now because october is not far away and that's when their hibernation starts all over again in the dolomites close to the latimar lies lake carra legend has it that a beautiful mermaid once lived here a

sorcerer threw jewels for her into the lake green gelatinous balls glow underwater these are not aquatic plants but a collection of ciliates the single cell organisms are barely one-fiftieth of an inch long but they travel together in a geratinous mass and feed on tiny green algae that give them energy and the green coloration nighttime in the dolomites a peculiar light show has started above the dry cinnamon peaks summer lightning and the sparkle of the stars in the firmament are much more spectacular in the alps than in the lowlands where artificial light from the cities lights

up the sky early morning at the weissen lake in canton the beautiful sunshine has come to an abrupt end the weather in the alps can change in no time if the wind slightly changes the air gets pushed up alongside the mountains and cools down and the result is often heavy thunderstorms rain showers are usually short and it all begins anew part of the rain rises up towards the sky as fog the esculpean snake loves such humid and warm regions the snake often sits in trees where it scavenges birds eggs from their nests it can grow

up to five feet and it's a great climber because of the coarse scales on the sides of its body other snakes live here too which hunt mice a white band surrounds the weissen lake which gives it its name for eons the rain has washed out chalk particles from the limey mountains surrounding the lake which now give it its white rim chub live in this area barely 15 inches long and related to the carp they already spawned in the spring the perch on the other hand are still in the midst of reproduction they avoid the open

water and stay hidden between tree stumps where the pike won't easily find them this is also where the females have their nests of course there are always thieves attracted by the nutritious eggs the north american crayfish has intruded the european water bodies and has flourished there but has in turn pushed out the native crayfish population no chance against this mother she defends her eggs which consists of egg tubes that can contain up to three hundred thousand eggs it will take eight to ten days until the juvenile perch hatch back to the glacial heights of the

alps the enchanted wonderland of the glaciers there are still about five thousand glaciers in the alps climate change is causing the ice to melt the glacier is only half of what it was in 1850 should this trend continue three quarters of all alpine glaciers will have melted away by 2050 and the results will be catastrophic glaciers contain large amounts of water and when the ice melts and becomes liquid the water will flow down from the peaks through cracks into the rocks the ice masses in many caves such as the dachshund are continuously increasing the ice

structures are very beautiful but the ice is also the glue that holds the rock of the peaks together as a result the mountains will start to break apart and slide down the triglav is the highest peak in the alpine foothills of slovenia many rivers flow towards the adriatic from here but some world travelers are moving in the opposite direction up towards the mountains eels migrate from the atlantic through the mediterranean and now deep into the mountains of slovenia they have hatched off the coast of the americas rainwater and rivers have cut deep craters into the

cast landscape but not just mechanical forces are at work here sinkholes and majestic caves such as this one here in skokien are a result of carbon dioxide rich water that trickled through the limestone and dissolved it as a result spectacular and bizarre structures developed inside the grottoes over many thousands of years nature's works of art many of slovenia's mountain streams flow underground over large distances and through many of these caves they are only a transit route for the eels on their way into the mountains they swim through these dark streams for many days until they

get high enough up and reach daylight again the smallest movements loosen sediment from the roof of the caves and create deposits of dust there are creatures in these caves that have never seen the sun colorless cave dwellers and a creature that was once mistaken for dragon offspring in times gone by with only three fingers on each hand and very slow movements it looks more like an alien creature from another world it was also called the human fish because of its human-like skin color the alm also called the proteus is only 12 inches long and a

distant relation of the newt its external gills are reminiscent of newt larvae but the olm keeps them its entire life a proteus can live up to a hundred years in a world without light their eyes have shrunk to small dots red blood vessels and bowels are visible through the pale skin the alm lives off small crabs and can easily survive without a bite to eat for years it has a great sense of smell and it can feel movement in the water that's how it orientates itself in its eternally dark environment that's also how the mating

partners find each other just like their distant cousins the newts the female receives the spermatophores from the male it will take four months for the fertilized eggs to grow inside the female depending on the water temperature she will lay eggs or give birth to live young very pale and photophobic the proteus is one of the most unusual animals in europe and is very well equipped for a life in total darkness in the cast caves of slovenia on top of many alpine passes one can find such stoner which means stone men some are over 500 years

old did herders build them to kill time or to help people find their way the debris fields are a great environment for the poisonous asp viper which can live up to almost 10 000 feet high in the mountains at times the snakes mate in late summer the female will store the sperm and give birth to her live young the following spring they're up to three feet long and it makes this even more tricky several males have a strong interest in this female one finally gets to mate with her but which one autumn is arriving at

the triglav in the slovenian alps together with their young the chamois are heading downhill towards their summer territory this is the socha considered one of the most beautiful alpine rivers its white water has dug deep canyons into the rocks these underwater valleys were once filled with one of the largest species of trout but during world war one hungry soldiers fished in the socher with dynamite and decimated the species north american rainbow trout were released as a substitute they are now populating the socha there are only a few places where marmarata trout still live they can

grow to almost four feet and weigh 45 pounds they are still threatened today because of the competition with the rainbow trout autumn ends and winter moves in quickly the first snow the mating season of the ibexes is starting soon here at the triglav the males still live separately from the females together in bachelor groups they have time to work on growing their winter fat they need a very warm layer once the bone-chilling cold descends starting in early december they will begin their energy sapping fights for their harems the peak of the triglav will be covered

with a dense blanket of snow by then the course of the socha has already changed to look like an enchanted ice scape a special wayfarer is stalking through the snow the lynx's large furry pores keep the animal from sinking into the snow with the little tufts on its ears that stick up like antennae the lynx is able to locate distant prey the lynx also has luminescent reflective eyes the common buzzard only gave the shy links a little scare the lynx population in slovenia had already become extinct but in 1972 three couples were released with great

success because now the largest population of lynxes in the entire alpine region lives here their offspring have even been found in italy and austria as long as the lynxes are no longer hunted they have a good chance of making a permanent home along the headwater region of the socha the rare marmarata trout on the other hand are not so lucky as well as the rainbow trout another species has also been released into the socha and has made a permanent home here competing with the marmarata river trout are a bit smaller than marmaratas but they are

very closely related as a result they often cross breed with each other today many foreign trout live in the socha but maybe they will be equally as successful as the lynx is and the most beautiful river in the alps will be repopulated with cultured marmarata trout winter soon has the alps in its grip the days are shorter and colder now morning fog sticks to the surface of the weissen lake like cotton wool for at least 80 days of the year the air temperature at the weissen lake is below zero so the surface of the lake

is frozen solid between december and march below the surface on the other hand it's pretty warm the ice acts as insulation and the water at the bottom of the lake will never drop below 40 degrees fahrenheit the ice is at least two feet thick and therefore very loadable so that it will even carry a large snowplow with the ice master who prepares the surface of the ice every morning shortly after the first skaters are scraping across the frozen lake the weissen lake is popular with ice skaters because it's the largest natural ice service in europe

at times the fishes wake up from their hibernation during the cold time of the year carp and trout slow down their heartbeats and breathing frequency and their metabolism is very limited they rest at the bottom of the lake this is also where the prehistoric sterlite tries to spend the cold time of the year it has also stopped feeding and its bodily functions are reduced not even a sliding gravel avalanche will fluster the sterlite not everybody is calm and quiet down here the berberts start mating during the winter time and come together under the ice during

the night for a mass mating they curl together into ball-like structures every fish tries to get into the middle of the fray to spawn above the surface there's no hint of all this because for most of the time the dark and deep alpine lakes keep their mysteries well hidden you