New film at Long Beach aquarium explores the lives of seals, sea lions

A new film coming out at Long Beach’s Aquarium of the Pacific will dive into the lives of seals, sea lions, and the staff who care for them.

The film is called “Love & Life Beyond the Glass.” Megan Smiley, an assistant curator at the aquarium, is one of the stars of the movie. She told KNX News’ Nataly Tavidian that the film gives people the chance to see the relationship between the staff and the animals.

“We do not think of them as pets, but we do think of them like coworkers, and for any of you that have coworkers out there, you can understand,” she said. “You definitely start to pick out ones that you're super, super close with and others that you get to know a little more, and sometimes it takes a shorter period of time. Sometimes it takes a long period of time to get to know these animals.”

So what does Smiley hope the audience takes away from the movie?

“The most important thing that you could take away from that is really how do we fall in love with the animals we’re taking care of,” she said. The animals you get to see in real life and their environment out in the ocean and their counterparts in the ocean. The more that you can learn about them, the better we can protect their habitats.”

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Beginning July 3, audiences can catch “Love & Life Beyond the Glass” at the Aquarium of the Pacific. The film will be shown daily in the aquarium’s Honda Pacific Visions Theater.

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