You've seen the television shows "CSI: Las Vegas," "CSI: Miami," and "CSI: New York." Are you prepared for "CSI: Highline?"

It's not a television crime drama on your TV screen but it is coming to a stream near you. "CSI: Highline" is a new effort to better understand the health of Miller and Walker Creeks, which drain Burien, Normandy Park and SeaTac.

The Community Salmon Investigation for Highline - or CSI: Highline program - will count coho and chum salmon returning to the creeks from mid-October to late December. This is the first time a methodical survey of adult salmon has occurred on the streams.

Data also will be gathered on seemingly healthy fish that die before they can lay their eggs. This phenomenon, known as "pre-spawn mortality," occurs in many urban streams in Puget Sound. Pre-spawn mortality has been seen in Miller and Walker Creeks but the extent of the problem is unknown.

Volunteers will be the salmon "investigators" in the new program. Two-person teams will visit several locations on the creeks daily and record their observations. A variety of private and public landowners are providing access to the streams.

Burien Councilman Gordon Shaw, a volunteer, said, "The salmon reflect the health of the water in our streams. In Burien, the city and private landowners are making investments to improve water quality and stream flow. By counting fish now, we'll be able to see if we can produce positive changes in the years ahead."

As in the CSI television shows, the local investigation involves cutting open dead bodies. Volunteers will slit open salmon carcasses to see if eggs or sperm are present. If they are, it indicates the fish died before it could spawn.

"There aren't a lot of volunteer opportunities where you get to perform a necropsy," says King County stream steward Dennis Clark. "We hope the icky-cool factor will be a draw for more volunteers."

The Miller and Walker Creek Stewardship Program, which is jointly funded by the cities of Burien, Normandy Park, and SeaTac, as well as King County and the Port of Seattle, organized the salmon survey.

To volunteer to participate in the salmon survey, contact Clark at dennis.clark@kingcounty.gov, 206-296-1909.