There are few individuals better placed than Doug Allan to tell you about the tetchy personalities of walrus.

"Walrus may look all the same lying and rolling around and belching and farting on the beach, but actually they are all quite different," he says with great solemnity.

"With walrus it's almost like one is maybe only slightly less crabby than the one next to it, because they are universally the most bad tempered species I've come across.

"They very seldom seem to be in a good mood..."

Doug would know. He's spent more than three decades in the presence of the natural world's great mammals, capturing them on film in their own environment.

A far cry from his hometown of Dunfermline, his own natural environment seems to be wherever they are - be it in the frozen polar regions on icecaps or deep underwater swimming with giants.

This week he ventured into the STV studios in Glasgow, dressed in a shirt festooned with butterflies.

"A talking point in crowded rooms," he says, before launching into spectacular tales of polar bears, penguins and those moments when you need to have your mind "in tune" with whales.

"You can't hide from an animal underwater," he explains. "So it's all about getting on their wavelength with your movements and even with what you're thinking.

"It's like tuning into them in a really special way."

Doug is one of the world's most respected and experienced wildlife and natural history cameramen, who has devoted more than three decades to traversing the coldest and most remote places on our planet to bring the world's natural wonders into our living rooms.

He has made more than sixty trips to the poles filming for Discovery, National Geographic and many others.

His work you will have most likely seen in the BBC's Life in the Freezer from Antarctica, Polar Bear Special from the Arctic, The Blue Planet , Planet Earth, Ocean Giants or Frozen Planet.

His gripping footage of orcas attacking grey whales off California and leopard seals feeding on emperor penguins has captured generations of viewers.

He has worked with many different presenters including Sir David Attenborough who has spoken of his utmost respect for the Scotsman, even writing the forward in Doug's self-published book Freeze Frame.

"Doug Allan seems to be immune to most of the limitations that govern other humans," he says.

"Furthermore, he is totally without fear in a way that comes not from recklessness but from deep knowledge and experience."

Of his achievements Doug is almost painfully modest, but he delights in sharing his stories with those as excited to hear them as he is in telling them.

This month he is on tour around Scotland, holding evenings of behind-the-scenes stories for families, with highlights from his most challenging assignments in the remotest places on Earth.

Each night will be crammed with tales of adventure and daring encounters, though with an underlying warning that echoes the news announcements this week on the climate change crisis.

A monumental new assessment by the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warns that the planet has just 12 years to reverse global warming.

"Finally we've been hearing what many of us have been saying for quite a long time, which is we need to get serious about tackling climate change," says Doug, who has witnessed the planet changing firsthand in the polar regions.

Doug's solution is a strong message to the government.

"If the need is perceived as great enough, money becomes available," he says.

"You know ten years ago, how much did we spend bailing out the banks? In six months we found a trillion dollars to save them.

"So if we want to crack climate change we can look to the people to do their bit but we want big subsidies of encouragement from the government, we want big subsidies on electric vehicles and solar panels, and all the sort of stuff that really will make a difference."

"You cannot expect the people in this country, after ten years of austerity, to dip into they pockets again for the sake of climate change," he adds.

"People and businesses have to be given economic incentive but over the long run it will make money, but more importantly it will save the planet, it really will save the planet."

Doug Allan: Wild Images, Wild Life runs from October 7 to November 4. Full tour details are available at www.dougallan.com and his book Freeze Frame will also be available to purchase.