Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says the U.S. military has launched its eighth strike against an alleged drug-carrying vessel.

The U.S. military killed five alleged drug smugglers in strikes against two vessels in the eastern Pacific Ocean, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Wednesday, in an expansion of the Trump administration's use of the armed forces in its counter-narcotics campaign.

The blob is a large-scale marine heat wave in the northern Pacific Ocean. It was first detected in 2013 and was caused by a long-lasting ridge of high pressure that created a large, warm and nutrient-deficient body of water that extended from Alaska down to the B.C. coast to Mexico.

The U.S. military launched its eighth strike against a vessel that it says was carrying drugs, killing two people in the waters of the eastern Pacific Ocean.

Since operations targeting suspected drug traffickers began over the summer, over 30 people have been reportedly killed.

The Trump Administration’s assault on alleged drug boats is heading west, as the U.S. military bombed a vessel in the Pacific Ocean, according to reports Wednesday.

According to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, the strike killed two people, bringing the death toll from all the strikes to at least 34 people.

Members of Congress say the Pentagon has still not provided any evidence to back justifications for the attacks.

The waters of the north Pacific have had their warmest summer on record, according to BBC analysis of a mysterious marine heatwave that has confounded climate scientists.

Water temperatures several degrees above normal span thousands of miles, though they have mostly stopped short of the Pacific Northwest coast.

The criteria for La Niña conditions have been met, according to NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center, and are expected to persist through the winter.

A surfer in distress was rescued from the Pacific Ocean near the Oceanside Pier Friday night, and was taken to a hospital in unknown condition after CPR was performed.