Coast Guard flies 2 turtles from Oregon to Calif.

[January 30, 2010]  NEWPORT, Ore. (AP) -- Two rare sea turtles stranded last fall on separate beaches in the Northwest took flight Thursday on a Coast Guard airplane bound for San Diego.

The C-130 airplane based at the Coast Guard Air Station in Sacramento flew to Newport, Oregon, to pick up the turtles, named Myrtle and Maude.

The plan is for them to finish their recovery at the SeaWorld turtle rehabilitation center and ideally be released back into the wild.

The Coast Guard crew combined the good deed with a training flight.

Cmdr. Todd Lightle says the mission gave the pilots practice getting in and out of a small airport and handling a unique loading exercise.

The olive ridley turtle, Myrtle, was found on Newport's Agate Beach and the Green, Maude, on Washington's Long Beach Peninsula.

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Information from: The Oregonian, http://www.oregonlive.com

[Associated Press]

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