Abstract: The propagation characteristics of intense femtosecond laser pulses underwater are numerically investigated and modulated by the input energy, lens focal length and beam waist width.The results indicate that, when the system parameters are appropriately selected, the generation of filament can be effectively controlled by the focal length of lens in range of 1 meter to 10 meters underwater, and the filament length reaches the meter scale. With increase of the focal distance (such as f=10 m), the generated plasma filament will oscillate strongly, which is disadvantage to the underwater detection of spectrum. At this time, by increasing the waist width of the beam, the filament can be transmitted more stably at a distant target position underwater. The attenuation effect of the impurities in seawater on pulse energy can be balanced by increasing input power, so as to realize the long-distance transmission of filaments.