Northern Harvest Sea Farms is busy cleaning pens of dead salmon, and the province's head aquaculture vet says higher-than-average water temperatures are to blame.

Winter storm warnings were posted for parts of western Montana, northern Idaho and northeast Washington. Snow also was forecast for areas in Wyoming, Utah, Oregon, Nevada and California.

The city keeps a record of the number of reported sightings of the animals, along with other wildlife. There were three sightings in 2007, about 10 in 2015 and 27 this year.

Along with significant seabird die-offs near Port Heiden, there have been reports of small whales and porpoises, walrus and sea otters washed up on shore.