PO'IPU, KAUA'I — A mother monk seal and her newborn pup on Kaua'i are doing fine, but wildlife officials said they need more volunteers to monitor the mother and pup on the beach in front of Kiahuna Plantation resort.

The volunteers help keep beach-goers from getting too close to the seals and answer questions from tourists about the endangered marine mammals, according to Jean Souza, Kaua'i coordinator for the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary.

The pup was born Tuesday.

Several of the volunteers this week were visitors who were just excited to see the seals.

But still more volunteers are needed, said Mimi Olry, the Kaua'i Marine Conservation coordinator.

Officials at the Marriott's Waiohai Beach Club opened up their lobby for volunteer training sessions.

The free hour-long sessions will be held twice a day through tomorrow.

Olry said officials have put up a temporary walkway along the high-water mark to help visitors make their way along the shoreline without having to detour around the resort properties. If the seals react adversely to the walkway, it will be removed, she said.

"This is only a trial," Olry said Thursday. "So far, it looks like having the wind screen material hasn't affected the mom. She hasn't looked at it all morning. It's working great."

Visitors can watch the new pup from more spacious vantage points at either end of the walkway.

Kaua'i, along with Ni'ihau, is home to most of the 50 or so Hawaiian monk seals sighted by researchers on Hawai'i's main islands. Hawaiian monk seals are an endangered species with a population of only about 1,300 living primarily in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.