- I kind of compare it with being at a giant dog park.

Some of them love it.

Like you start giving them arm pit scratches

and they're just like giant dogs.

They just start rolling around,

and they're flying all around you.

But these animals are huge.

People are intimidated by them,

but once you, once you learn their behavior,

they're just right into you right away.

They just look at you like a big chew toy.

(soft peaceful music)

(motor running)

(uptempo piano music)

I could never see myself living anywhere

other than the Pacific Northwest.

(wind blowing)

I could literally spend every single day

of the rest of my life

and never travel anywhere

other than Vancouver Island

and it would still never have enough time

to see this whole place.

(water splashes)

My first introduction to the ocean would have

definitely come from my mom.

That's me with a sea lion right there.

Later on in life,

I realized it is pretty unique experience

to get to help and spend time with these animals

on a regular basis.

(sea lions barking)

Sea lions are a large intelligent animal

and they're very sensitive of what your intentions are

and how they choose to interact with you

is totally their choice.

If you're comfortable and their inquisitive

they'll come and they'll chew on you fins,

or come up and they chew on the edge of your mask,

or give you, uh, big kisses on the lips,

or big hugs.

They wrap their fins around you and give you a big hug.

People get sketched out about it.

(soft relaxing music)

Like I've had lots of people contact me and be like,

"Don't you think those things are aggressive?"

Just because an animal's putting it's mouth

on you doesn't mean it's doing it in a harmful way.

They don't have hands,

they can't explore their world

with anything other than their mouth.

There's people that spend, now, a lot of money

to travel to the other side of the planet

to watch a group of large migratory animals

in Africa or something, say,

and here I can just go out on my boat

and it's not something I take for granted at all anymore,

having the opportunity to do this.

(relaxing music)