Underwater Photography and Stories

My business card

I have been fascinated by photography since I was a child. Whenever possible, I secretly took my mother's camera and photographed nature and animals, hoping she wouldn't notice. She never said anything when she saw the pictures I took, but just smiled to herself.

When I was 16 years old and traveled with my own camera for the first time, I quickly combined my passion for diving with photography. Initially with a small waterproof camera, but soon with the first SLR camera in an underwater housing.


  • Lepard seal in the Kelp forest of South Georgia
  • Tiger shark out of Manuelita Island / Cocos Island
  • Common seadragon or weedy seadragon (Phyllopteryx taeniolatus) / Tasmania
  • Mobula ray - Azores
  • Iceberg diving in Antarctica
  • Sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka), red salmon, kokanee salmon / BC Canada
  • Spiny Seahorse (Hippocampus histrix)
  • Turtle under a Bangka
  • Whaleshark under a fishing plattform / Triton Bay / Indonesia
  • Baby frogfish at a coastal dive / Negros / Philippines
  • Blue whale in open sea
  • Cuthona kanga - Tergipedidae - Cuthona yamasui - nudibranch
  • Bangka at sunrise in Negros
  • Long-nosed fur seal (Arctocephalus forsteri) / Tasmania
  • Hippocampus bargibanti - pygmy seahorse
  • Pike - pickere (Esox lucius) in a german lake
  • Lepard seal in the Kelp forest of South Georgia
  • Ribbon eel (Rhinomuraena quaesita)
  • Atlantic spotted dolphin (Stenella frontalis) - Azores
  • Pike - pickere (Esox lucius)
  • King Penguin at South Georgia
  • Tope shark and freediver in a baitball out of the Azores
  • Snapper spaming at Shark City in Palau
  • Jelly fish lake Palau
  • King Penguins at South Georgia
  • Ancient Ruins of Lion City in Qiandao Lake / China
  • Sperm whale - cachalot (Physeter macrocephalus) - family come together
  • Amblyglyphidodon aureus - Golden Damselfish in a coral / Triton Bay / Indonesia
  • Blue shark in open water / Azores
  • Cenote diving in Yucatan
  • Handfish (Brachionichthys hirsutus) / Tasmania
  • Tope shark (Galeorhinus galeus) - school shark on top of a baitball / Azores
  • Tope shark (Galeorhinus galeus) - school shark on top of a baitball / Azores
  • Carlet macaw (Ara macao) - Neotropical parrot
  • Kangaroo in a National Park in Tasmania
  • ncient Ruins of Lion City in Qiandao Lake / China
  • Baby sperm whale in open sea / Azores
  • Apo island - Negros / Philippines
  • Lepard seal in the antarktican ice
  • Sperm whale - cachalot (Physeter macrocephalus) / Apnoe in open sea
  • Icediving on a big iceberg at the Antarctica
  • The Seventy Islands in Palau
  • Hammerhead sharks / Galapagos
  • Devil fish - giant devil ray (Mobula mobular) / Baja California
  • Blue-footed booby (Pelecanus leucogaster)
  • Oltimer wreck in a german lake
  • Pike - pickere (Esox lucius) in a German lake
  • Sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka), red salmon, kokanee salmon / BC Canada
  • Sperm whale - cachalot (Physeter macrocephalus) - resting family
  • Wels catfish (Silurus glanis) - sheatfish
  • Sperm whale - cachalot (Physeter macrocephalus)
  • Oceanic manta ray (Mobula birostris) / Socorro
  • Red-lipped batfish - Galápagos batfish (Ogcocephalus darwini)
  • American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) / Mexico
  • Biking to the Caldera in Faial / Azores
  • Gentoo penguin (Pygoscelis papua) - Falkland
  • The ice world of the Antarctica
  • Spiny Seahorse vater gives birth (Hippocampus histrix)
  • Lesson's Thicklip, Striped Sweetlips (Plectorhinchus lessonii)
  • Sunset on a Philippine island
  • Pelagic thresher (Alopias pelagicus)
  • Zodiac diving / Philippines
  • Dark-banded Fusilier (Pterocaesio tile)
  • Freediver in a Sardine Baitball / Moalboal Philippines
  • Green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas)
  • Antarctic fur seal (Arctocephalus gazella)
  • White tailed tropic bird in Palau
  • Chandelier Cave in Palau
  • The Arch at the Rock Islands in Palau

I started selling my first pictures at the beginning of the 90s. The first diving article appeared in TAUCHEN Magazine in 1994 and others soon followed. The hobby grew into a profession that became my vocation. It is not always easy to survive in this profession, but it is fun and thanks to the support of my wife and daughter it's possible to bring pictures from all over the world and write about extraordinary destinations.

What am I doing today? I work as a team with my wife Sibylle Gerlinger and research stories, photograph extraordinary stories and occasionally work as a PhotoPro tour guide for diving tour operators. So I travel around the world a lot and have a lot to report on.

My focus is on travel, diving, workshops, lectures, diving technique and equipment testing.

My data:
Born on January 12, 1964 near Munich
Grew up and lives in Bavaria - west of Munich
Married to Sibylle Gerlinger and father of a great daughter

First contact with a camera as a child
First SLR camera at the age of 16
First dive at 15 years old
First diving license at the age of 16
First underwater camera at the age of 26 (1990)
Diving instructor M1 since 1994
Private pilot license since 1990
First publication in the LTU magazine in 1991 (LTU on-board magazine)
First publication in a diving magazine in 1994 (TAUCHEN Magazine)
Various placings in photo competitions 1995-1997
Mares Ambassador since 1997
Winner of the 1997 Indonesian UW Photo Championship (Derawan)
Freelance UW photographer and journalist since 1997
Longtime freelancer for TAUCHEN, UNDERWASSER, SILENT WORLD, TAUCHER.net, TAUCHER REVUE, AQUANAUT, ATLANTIS, REISEN EXCLUSIV, REISEFIEBER, and many more.
Tech diver since 2001
Rebreather diver since 2002
Diving instructor M2 since 2007
Diving instructor M3 since 2008
Tour guide at WATERWORLD TAUCHREISEN since 2010
Seacam Ambassador since 2015
Diving instructor trainer M4 since 2017
Fullcave Diver since 2019

Hundreds of publications in dozens of magazines worldwide
Images in more than 140 stock agencies worldwide
Speaker at diving trade fairs worldwide (Boat, ADEX, DRT, Interdive, etc.)
School representative for environment and nature conservation

THE WORLD IS FOR DIVING

Antarctica  Argentina Australia Austria Azores Bahamas Balearic Belice Brasil Islands Canada Canary Islands Cayman Islands China Christmas Islands Cocos Islands Comoros Croatia Cock Islands Columbia Costa Rica Curacao Cyprus Czech Republic Domenican Republic Ecuador Egypt Falkland Islands Fiji French Polynesia Finland France Galapagos Great Guatemala Hong Kong India Indonesia Irland Italy Jordan Kenya Lichtenstein Libya Luxembourg Malaysia Maldives Malta/Gozo Marroco Mauritius Mexico Monaco Mozambique Nepal Netherlands New Zealand Nicaragua Russia Palau Panama Philippines PNG Poland Portugal Scotland Sibira Slovacia Slovenia Solomon Islands South Africa Spain Sri Lanca Switzerland Tansania Thailand Tunesia Turkey United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States Vanuatu Venezuela Yemen