A newborn sea lion pup has become the centre of attention at Surat Bay after a video of it taking its first trip to the beach was posted online.
The pup and mother were found by Newhaven Camp Ground co-owner Jude Mulholland and her daughter, Mic Templeton, on a walk through forest on the edge of Surat Bay.
Ms Mulholland said she tried to keep the pup's existence a secret to protect it.
However, the secret was out when tourists staying at the camping ground spotted the pup in the past few weeks.
"They're [the tourists] absolutely loving it.''
Tourists Anna Van Maris and Kim Roberts captured the pup's first waddle to the beach on video.
"After that, the pup was out of the bag,'' Ms Mulholland said.
The video was posted to the Newhaven Holiday Park Facebook page, where it had almost 3000 views at the time of the newspaper going to print.
Ms Mulholland, who used to be in neonatal care, said she recognised the mother sea lion was in labour when she found her.
She immediately contacted Doc and looked out for the pup's wellbeing.
Doc ranger Nick Kelly said if the pup was female, it would be an important addition to the local population.
The pup is not the only one born on the Catlins coast recently. Another was found under a crib in Kaka Point by a holidaying family from Christchurch.
Four boys from the family looked after the pup and logged her activities.
The boys were presented with "Sea Lion Custodian'' awards from Doc for their work.
Mr Kelly said the pup was healthy and strong.
"I caught mum and pup sleeping side by side in the vegetable garden last week.''
Doc Otago communications manager Andrea Crawford said sea lions were often the victims of harassment by the public which was why Doc was guarded about the animals' location.
She said it was important to give the animals privacy.
Sea lions gave birth to only one pup per year and nursed them until they gave birth to another.
They were known to look after their young for almost three years.
