Cook Inlet Spill Prevention and Response Inc. (CISPRI) training exercises in the Kenai River were held up by some unexpected guests on Thursday morning. A pod of beluga whales hunting just past the mouth of the river prompted crews to temporarily suspend some preplanned activities.
CISPRI General Manager Todd Paxton is accustomed to incorporating unexpected “one-off scenarios” into these sorts of exercises to help prepare crews for surprise complications that may arise when conducting a spill response. “Today, it was a real life one,” Paxton said.
“Some beluga whales showed up. There’s some specific rules about how you interact amongst beluga whales,” Paxton explained. “Specifically, you’re not supposed to bother them, and you’re supposed to stay at least 100 yards away.”
Fortunately, the tide was low earlier in the morning, and crews were already waiting for more favorable water levels to begin their training. So, the marine wildlife didn’t hamper activities too much.
“When we first showed up, they were spotted–I think there was about a dozen of them counted or so–and then fortunately, they kind of moved upriver of their own accord. And by the time we got enough water on the incoming tide, [the whales were] pretty much out of our area.”
As for the CISPRI exercises themselves, the spill response outfit was on the river to deploy what’s called a Geographic Response Strategy (GRS). According to Paxton, the purpose of the GRS is to protect anadromous streams near the mouth of the Kenai River in the event of a spill and to prevent spilled substances from entering the river or those streams.
“As far as the geographic response strategy, we’re validating it. So, basically, there’s some prescriptive things that we have to do within the GRS, and we’re doing that and evaluating how well it works.”
As for the belugas, they continued hunting into the early afternoon before moving further upstream.
Before beginning their training, CISPRI contacted the Alaska Department of Fish and Game to confirm policies regarding operating within proximity of the whales.
Paxton said they were more than happy to work within the policies explained by ADF&G. “We just got to play by those rules as established by being around those whales.”
Cover photo credit: Lisa Leonard
