Native American tribes to help in water quality study

A water quality study in the Puget Sound is set to receive a little help - from a tribe of Native Americans in canoes.

According to website mynorthwest.com, Coast Salish tribal canoes will be fitted with five probes for environmental analysis purposes by scientists from the US Geological Survey.

Spokesperson for the US Geological Survey Sarah Akin said the canoeists will be collecting data relating to water quality and temperature, Salish sea birds and salmon species.

"We're going to be covering about 400 miles and last year we captured about 42,000 data points," she said.

Akin also spoke of the difficulties faced by government agencies in taking samples and said that the chosen method was as simple as following the Native Americans on their journey.

In recent news, British scientists were thrilled by the discovery of lampreys in the river Wear in County Durham due to theories that their presence indicates a high river water quality.

Written by Claire Manning