What's under your canoe? The underwater world of a woodland pond. Part one.

Woodland ponds are an integral part of any forest ecosystem. Thousands of creatures live in, on and around these bodies of water. 

The transition from winter to spring is slow but dramatic. The previous years vegetation begins to decay over the cold winter months. Frogs and turtles dig into the detritus and mud on the bottom of the pond and enter a state of metabolism which mimics death. 

Otters, beavers and muskrats hunt and forage throughout the entire winter as deer, wolves and a myriad of other land mammals leave their tracks on the snow covered pond ice. 

As the ice melts, and sunlight once again penetrates into the depths of the pond; life awakens slowly to the gentle touch of the sun. 

This video is a short underwater exploration of a small woodland pond showing the difference between winter and mid spring. 

Fascinated by the process of renewal in natural ecosystems, I plan to film the pond in the same fashion each month until ice once again covers the pond's surface.