Turtle watchers are hoping speedboat drivers will give the animals a brake.

Sea Turtle Preservation Society members handed out brochures to boaters Sunday.

This weekend, speedboats are racing -- as thousands of sea turtles mate and nest on the beach.

“This is not the best time for a lot of boats to be milling around the near shore, this is the beginning of the nesting season so we have adults, the females and they’re out there, not paying much attention to what’s going on around them,” explained Roger Pszonowsky.

Boaters that do see a turtle in their path should to slow down and put the boat into neutral, so the turtle can swim away.