Sadly , a flatbed truck dumping7,500 lb of live hagfishonto a highway in Oregon will not be the weird floor of 2017 . It will notevenbeclose . Still , the situation warrants some kind of scientific account , since it ’s not every day thatthe mucus of a life fossildestroys a Prius .
WKRGreportsthat yesterday , local authorities in Lincoln County , Oregon were alerted of an overturn truck on Highway 101 . The flatbed had apparently spilled worthless hagfish over the route , severely damaging one unlucky Prius . No one was hurt physically , at least . The psychological damage ca n’t be quantify .
https://jezebel.com/here-watch-a-slithering-mass-of-slime-eels-bulldozed-o-1796904701
Hagfish ( class name Myxini ) are observe all around the humans in the deep ocean and around continental margins , livingat depths of584 - 2970 ft ( 18 - 900 megabyte ) . Despite their nicknames—“slime eel ” and “ snoot snake”—these creatures are neither eel nor snakes .
“ [ Hagfish ] are primitive jawless Pisces with an eel - like consistence , ” deep sea ecologistAndrew David Thalertold Gizmodo . “ you could now tell you ’re dealing with a hagfish if , rather than a jaw , it has a horrifying tooth - lined rasp opening where its mouth would be that look like something out of HR Geiger ’s sketchbook . Also , if there ’s slime , it ’s a hagfish . ”
According to Thaler , the Pacific Northwest has a somewhat active hagfish piscary . This picky shipment of hagfish wasbound for South Korea , where they are considered a delicacy .
pic.twitter.com/hxZz9qeWMV
— Oregon State Police ( @ORStatePolice)July 13 , 2017
The obvious question here is , what ’s up with all that mucous ? Do hagfish hate modern highway infrastructure or harbor some kind of vendetta against Priuses ? Apparently , the hagfish apply slimefor self - defenseagainst marauder or or else , for hunt prey .
“ The slime provides protection and helps isolate food , ” Thaler explain . “ Hagfish have been discover escaping from sharks by choking them with tremendous amounts of sludge . When they feed on a carcase , the slime pours out , covering the carcass and prevent other scavenger from trench on their food for thought . ”
In this oestrus … what is this going to set out smelling like in the next few days? 😳 pic.twitter.com/3FqSwXeSMP
Though it take care gross , hagfish slime is actuallysomething of a curiosity material . Because it ’s made of protein and boodle molecules known as mucin , hagfish mucous does n’t dries out and harden over time — it stays all gooey . But that does n’t mean the mucose is infirm , in fact , quite the opposite . Hagfish mucose also contains thread - like protein that areincredibly elusive , so much so that researchers are endeavor to figure out how they can utilise the gook to quit bleed in fortuity victims , or make sustainablefabricsforclothes . Even the U.S. Navy isinterested in engineering itfor defensive cloth against missile .
https://gizmodo.com/ooey-gooey-hagfish-slime-is-an-amazingly-versatile-mate-1784713798
While the recent hagfish sludge ordeal may seem surreal to the medium bystander , Thaler was n’t all that faze .
“ frankly , this is a refreshingly normal story with a weird form of characters , ” Thaler articulate . “ It ’s nowhere near as freaky as everything else that ’s happen this week . ”
Marine biologyScience
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