The Department of Conservation is calling for volunteers to help protect yellow-eyed penguins at Sandfly Bay.
The volunteers would join a "core group" of people who had been providing information to visitors to the beach on evenings between October and Easter for the past six years, Doc acting area manager for coastal Otago David Agnew said.
The group prevented visitors from disturbing the penguins and encouraged people to appreciate them from the viewing hide rather than going down to the beach, he said.
This was important as research showed penguins were less likely to come ashore if there were people on the beach - which could result in chicks going hungry.
Volunteers, who worked in pairs, would benefit from using a pair of walkie talkies, which had been given by an American couple who visited Sandfly Bay last year.
