Gross! Truck overturns; thousands of eels slime highway

This photo provided by the Oregon State Police shows a vehicle after a truck overturned and its container with eels hit the vehicle on Highway 101 in Depoe Bay, Ore., July 13, 2017.(Photo: AP)

DEPOE BAY, Ore. — A truck full of slime eels overturned on Highway 101 Thursday afternoon, covering cars and the roadway with the slippery creatures.

The crash shut down the highway that runs along the Pacific Coast south of Depoe Bay at around noon.

Oregon State Police posted a photo on Twitter that showed damaged cars covered by the gooey eels. The agency also posed the question: “What to tell the #drycleaner?”

 Meanwhile, the Depoe Bay Fire Department posted a video of workers using a bulldozer to clear the eels from Highway 101.

Police said Salvatore Tragale was driving north with 13 containers holding 7,500 pounds of hagfish, which are commonly known as slime eels or "snot snakes."

EEL SLIME covers a car and road in Oregon. A truck hauling eels overturned on Hwy 101. #CleanUponAisle101 #eels #whoa via @ORStatePolice pic.twitter.com/xOmLkifXY5

— KING 5 News (@KING5Seattle) July 13, 2017

As Tragale approached road construction and tried to stop, one container flew off the truck bed and into the southbound lane, while the other containers spilled onto the highway, police said. The flying container hit one vehicle which then caused it and four other vehicles to be pushed into each other. Police said the people in the vehicle hit by the container suffered minor injuries. No one else was injured. When hagfish become stressed, they secrete a slime, which can be seen in the photos on the vehicles and on the highway, police said.

Thanks @OregonDOT pic.twitter.com/SmwHtWLeQ3

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

The road reopened after the bulldozing and hosing off was completed Thursday afternoon.

In this heat... what is this going to start smelling like in the next few days?😳 pic.twitter.com/3FqSwXeSMP

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

pic.twitter.com/hxZz9qeWMV

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

The live eels were going to be shipped to Korea, where they are a prized food and even used as an aphrodisiac, according to Fishermen's News, an advocate for commercial fishermen. Their hides can be made into wallets. The depletion of Korean fisheries has sent demand abroad, according to California Sea Grant of the University of California at San Diego. The bottom-feeding creatures help clean up the ocean bottom, but live eels are hard to transport. The biggest challenge is keeping them from suffocating in their own slime, Fishermen's News reported. Contributing: The Associated Press. Follow KGW-TV on Twitter: @KGWNews