That deep connection to wild places would go on to shape his life's work, turning him into one of the most powerful visual storytellers for oceans and polar regions.

My name is Paul Nicklen.

I'm a conservation photographer, a journalist, an artist, and an explorer.

I remember being very upset when my family moved to the Arctic.

And all of a sudden, here I am in this cold place.

But it, it very quickly switched for me from sort of concern and worry of this isolation to absolute magic.

I fell in love with the Arctic.

Okay, can we circle back to the seal story that enamored Christina?

In 2003, tragically, a scientist was taken down and killed by a leopard seal.

And, you know, as somebody who's always I was a polar bear biologist, I worked on different animals around the world and a lot of the charismatic sort of scary animals, the grizzly bears.

And I've been around these animals all my life.

And I hate it when an animal gets a bad reputation.

And it was tragic that the scientist was killed.

But I wanted to go down and give this animal a fair shake and get to know if it was a vicious monster that is out hunting humans or if it's misunderstood.

Can you share a little bit about how that time shaped you?