ASTORIA, Ore. - Flight crewmembers from Coast Guard Air Station Sacramento, Calif., and specialists from the International Bird Rescue Research Center load pallets full of birdcages onto a C-130 Hercules aircraft, Monday, Oct. 26, 2009.
The cages are being used to transport approximately 200 to 300 rescued migratory birds from the Pacific Northwest where they were affected by a red tide that bloomed along the coast of Washington and Oregon.
The birds will be transported back to Sacramento, turned over to the International Bird Rescue and transported to a state-of-the-art oiled wildlife facility in the San Francisco Bay Area to be washed and rehabilitated.
U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Kelly Parker.