An Interview with Mark Shelly and Katie Pofahl
May 2012 Feature
By Campbell Slavin, 5th Grade, Brandeis Hillel School
The Film
The film Otter 501 begins with a stranded Sea Otter pup, and a young, adventurous woman, who is looking for a new start. Katie, a recent college graduate, with a degree in freshwater biology, was looking for an adventure, and found herself in her uncle’s apartment in Monterey Bay in California. The movie unfolds as Katie posts her adventures on Facebook, in a video diary format. It all started with an encounter on a little beach, where they met. Watching this poor, helpless otter, Katie calls the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research and Conservation Center where all of the harmed or wounded otters go. Here the otter got the name "501" because she was the five hundred and first otter to pass through that program and to be rescued. After their first encounter, the two don’t see each other for a long time. Katie wants to know more, so she does whatever she can to see how 501 had been doing. After learning to dive, eat, and groom with a surrogate mother, 501’s story starts to take shape. Watch as Katie and 501, experience a journey of a life time together.