A multiple car crash on U.S. 101 in Oregon looks like “a scene straight out of your nightmares,” according to The Oregonian.
A truck full of “slime eels — hagfish, which have a skull but no jaw bones or spines that release slimey material when they’re stressed — lost its load on Thursday, causing a five-car crash on the highway, The Oregonian reported.
The story received national and worldwide media attention. It was featured on The Verge, BBC and ABC News.
More than 7,500 pounds of fish, along with the sloppy goo, were scattered across the road.
The Oregon State Police tweeted photos of the road and the sedans.
Kim Randall, who drove a 2017 Nissan first struck from the slime, sustained minor injuries. No one else was injured in the crash.
“Randall sustained minor injuries in the crash. No one else was injured. Unless, of course, you count the fish. Hagfish cannot survive outside of salt water. They died on the highway,” according to The Oregonian.
The slime proved to be the hardest part to clean up. As The Verge reported, the slime can expand up to 10,000 times its initial size. It’s “a kind of elastic, slimy mesh.”
The U.S. Navy is trying to synthetically re-create the slime's fibrous threads to use in bulletproof vests, according to The Verge.
Social media members tweeted out their reactions.
https://twitter.com/SarahNEmerson/status/885621431870013440https://twitter.com/DrAndrewThaler/status/885614864160391168