Over the past month, tens of thousands of herring have beached themselves along the shores of Nova Scotia, Canada. In the mornings, residents wake up to discover hundreds of dead herring in their back yards. Dead lobsters, crabs, scallops, starfish, and bar clams have also turned up. But no one seems to know why.

Sign the petition to urge government leaders to take action to stop this crisis now!

Possible causes of the mass death of so much marine life include parasites, pathogens, pollution, waste from fracking, toxic industrial waste, sprays used for agriculture and forestry, climate change, and a newly-installed tidal energy turbine.

Many of these potential causes could also be hazardous to human health, so it's imperative that we understand what is happening – and fast. But local leaders have remained silent on this crisis, offering little to no public information on any investigations they are conducting, or what their proposed solutions are.

So local resident Ann Pohl started a Care2 petition to demand that the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, Premier of Nova Scotia, and Premier of New Brunswick address the situation immediately. Her petition asks these leaders to call a joint public conference immediately to provide updates regarding the herring die-offs, and to indicate steps that will be taken to improve transparency, collaboration, reporting, and sustained marine life.

She needs as many signatures as possible to make sure that these government leaders listen to residents' voices and heed their call for action. Will you sign her petition?

Thank you for all that you do,

Miranda B. The Care2 Petitions Team