Meet Disney’s latest star, Leo the Galapagos sea lion

Can you give us an overview of the ‘Sea Lions of Galapagos’ film? 

Our film follows the life of a young and curious sea lion called Leo as he tries to establish his own community in the remote islands of Galapagos. Throughout his journey, we explore many locations and meet the native wildlife. Sea lions are the perfect character to follow as they are naturally curious, actively seeking out interactions with all the local flora and fauna both on land and underwater – from marine iguanas and whale sharks to waved albatrosses and Sally Lightfoot crabs, sea lions are always up for new encounters.

As Leo grows, he explores further and further afield, looking for a place to call home. Through his eyes, we discover more about Galapagos, with each new island blessed with a unique cast of characters. As the film reaches its climax, after years of searching, Leo eventually discovers a secret beach, perfect for raising a family of his own. However, there is one final challenge to overcome: he must defeat the resident beachmaster and claim the territory as his own.

What inspired you to make a documentary about sea lions and Galapagos sea lions in particular? 

One of the key characteristics of Disneynature is the greater scope for creative storytelling than perhaps is the case with other specialist factual documentaries. For these films to work, however, you need charismatic central characters who display a range of behaviours in a variety of locations. With this in mind, there are few better candidates than Galapagos sea lions. They are constantly up to something and are never far away from the action. As individuals, they can be brave, intelligent and mischievous in equal measure, but also extremely social animals – the relationships they form between one another can last a lifetime. Both pups and adults are extremely playful, and during the filming, we witnessed countless sea lion games invented before our eyes. You can’t help but marvel at their creativity and dexterity underwater, even if sometimes our filming equipment was stolen as part of their game!

Within a sea lion colony, there can also be a huge range of personalities, with some traits apparent almost from birth. Some pups are born adventurers, while others prefer the easy life and stick close to mum for a long as possible. I was blown away by their resourcefulness, and in Galapagos in particular, they frequently need to rely on all their skills as food supplies can be hugely variable and predators like sharks and orcas are often lurking around the next corner.

In addition to their innate curiosity, sea lions have a healthy appetite for fun and mischief and love nothing more than messing with the other animals they come across. As one scientist explained to me, ‘sea lions are friends with everyone, but not everyone is friends with them!’.

What are some of the challenges you can face when filming animals in their natural habitat? 

Galapagos is a place of extremes, and while some shoots were comparatively comfortable, staying in a nice beachside hotel walking distance from the filming location, others were more intense. Bainbridge rocks for example, the location of the scad (fish) hunt, was notoriously a brutal place to work, with long days carrying equipment in the intense equatorial sun and lashing winds channelling down into a small cove, the crew were battered by the elements every day and the cameras were constantly jamming up with a combination of sand and sea salt. Keeping both the crew and equipment up and running for a whole month was no mean feat, but the resulting images delivered one of the most dramatic sequences in the film.

Another challenging sequence to film was in the tunnel leading towards the ‘secret cove’, as a fully grown Leo explores deep into an underwater cavern. This was an unknown dive site, only suitable for experienced cave divers, as the swell and compaction of the waves created a high level of risk. After many days recce’ing the site and monitoring the tidal conditions/weather patterns, we had a good idea of the safest dive times to target. Unlike the sea lions, we decided against swimming through the tunnel, but were still able to capture the images we needed deep under the rock face. On a shoot like this, knowing where to draw the line between risk and reward only comes with years of field experience and ensuring the right people are lined up for each respective role is a key part of my job.

We hear a lot about eco-anxiety and people feeling overwhelmed by the environmental challenges facing wildlife. How important is it when developing a wildlife film to find a balance between bringing awareness to challenges and delivering messages of hope? 

This was something we discussed a lot before writing the script. I think fifteen years ago, there was a huge absence of conservation narratives in natural history films, but more recently, there has been a big swing to try and address the environmental crisis in every film. I think neither approach is ideal, but the latter in particular has led to significant eco-anxiety in the younger generation.

As a parent myself, my initial goal is to inspire my children to explore the natural world and to spend as much time outdoors as possible. Consequently, I decided that the main film ‘Sea Lions of the Galapagos’ should be unashamedly a fun, family adventure with no hidden conservation messages or associated guilt – a celebration of a truly unique and  magical collection of islands we are lucky enough to have on our planet. For those who want to know more, we produced the behind-the-scenes documentary ‘Guardians of the Galapagos’, which provides a much deeper dive into some of the challenges facing the Islands. We were fortunate that Disney backed us in making both films and supported our decision to highlight the urgent conservation work being carried out. 

Our research has shown that sea lions are sadly one of the most threatened species when it comes to marine plastic pollution. How can wildlife films be used to encourage people to connect with and protect wildlife? 

Yes, this is true, we were lucky to work alongside a range of scientists investigating the impact of marine plastic pollution on Galapagos wildlife, but notably Galo Quezada from the Galapagos National Park Directorate, and Dr Juan Pablo Muñoz-Pérez from the Universidad San Francisco de Quito. While it was not appropriate to address these issues in the main film, the accompanying ‘Guardians of the Galapagos’ documentary highlights these challenges in much more detail. I was inspired by the range of local initiatives in the Galapagos, with countless people giving up their time to help tackle these issues. The people of Galapagos are rightly proud of their home, and I hope our film will only strengthen their resolve to protect it.

Do you have a favourite wildlife encounter during your time filming in Galapagos? 

While it is important have some key behavioural set pieces lined up for the film (e.g. the tuna hunt, surfing or shark chasing), we were also keen to leave space for spontaneity – some of the best sequences in the film were totally unscripted and simply arose from the team just being alert to their surroundings.

The scene at Beagle island, where our hero Leo is forced to climb steep cliffs to escape a huge, angry beachmaster, was not at all anticipated, but it ultimately serves a crucial story point in the film. Another example would be the sea lion flushing out fish from the rocks by blowing bubbles. We had heard of this behaviour, but I do not think it has ever been filmed before. When Richard Wollocombe (lead underwater cinematographer) noticed a sea lion acting unusually near some rocky crevices, he decided to shadow it and patiently wait for the behaviour to kick off.

There were a couple of moments when I felt luck was on our side, we were fortunate not just to have been given access to Baronesa island (where our hero Leo was born), but also to time our shoot just right. We had a range of pups to choose from, in a truly idyllic location. Being able to capture a volcanic eruption was also a huge bonus, and throughout the production, the sea lions never let us down – they were always up to something and happy to let us film their adventures. Working in Galapagos has been a huge privilege, and I hope the film goes some way to showcasing what a spectacular and fascinating place it is.