For Kirk Johnson—paleontologist and Sant Director of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History—the walrus has been a lifelong fascination spanning 40 years.

In this sweeping Arctic journey, Johnson sets out to uncover the hidden world of these extraordinary giants. Around 250,000 walrus inhabit the frigid waters between Russia and Alaska, yet much of their secretive lives remains rarely seen or understood.

From remote ice floes to rapidly changing seas, the film reveals both the beauty of these enigmatic creatures and the mounting threats they face as climate change accelerates the loss of sea ice.