Molly, the hungry and orphaned otter who stole a man’s heart

Billy Mail was looking over the pontoon’s edge one day when he finally saw an otter pop out right in front of him.

He had spent about two weeks putting out fish after seeing the mammal swimming close to his home in the Shetland Islands. “My curiosity got the better of me and I wondered how close I could get because you can never get close to a wild otter,” he said.

More than three years after their first meeting, a new National Geographic documentary reveals how Mail got a whole lot closer than most.

Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story, streaming on Disney+, captures the blossoming relationship between Mail and the otter he named Molly.

The film, which premieres on November 15 and is produced by the Emmy and Bafta winner Jeff Wilson, immerses viewers into the story of how Mail and his wife kindled a rare friendship with the overly familiar orphaned animal.