Thousands Of ‘Slime Eels’ Spill Onto Highway And Fuel Our Nightmares

What to tell the #drycleaner? pic.twitter.com/2QyxSriiGq

— Oregon State Police (@ORStatePolice) July 13, 2017

Cleanup on Highway 101.

Approximately 7,500 pounds of “slime eels,” also known as hagfish, were spilled onto Oregon Highway 101 after a massive collision last week. A truck that was carrying the fishy cargo reportedly slammed its brakes at a construction zone, sending one of the containers of hagfish into a car in the opposite lane and sending the fish flying.

The hagfish, which were en route to Korea to be consumed, responded to being hurtled into cars, roads, and the like with their danger mechanism and secreted a sticky slime that soon coated the highway as much as the wrecked cars and wriggling fish did. Cleanup lasted hours, and footage captured during that time span reveals what you would expect to find in the middle of a horror movie, not a bustling freeway.

HWY 101 mp 131 just got slimed. Fortunately no injuries. pic.twitter.com/jyBoZovzaz

— Depoe Bay Fire Dist. (@DepoeBayFire) July 13, 2017

Any hagfish that were still alive were searching for water to swim away in, wriggling pasts piles of carcasses of their fallen brethren.

Thanks @OregonDOT pic.twitter.com/SmwHtWLeQ3

— Depoe Bay Fire Dist. (@DepoeBayFire) July 13, 2017

Talk about gruesome.

You can’t tell from the angles of the images and videos from the crash, but the visual appearance of a hagfish is enough on its own to creep you out. Known as a “jawless fish,” these animals literally eat by boring their faces into dead carcasses of fish and other prey, leaving gaping holes in their food. If you’re down for some nightmarish footage of what that looks like, check out the Smithsonian’s video above.

Thank God none of the hagfish decided to feed on their own in this scenario. The cannibalism would’ve made this sticky situation a whole lot creepier than it already looks.