Tanker Crash Accidentally Releases 70,000 Salmon Into Wrong Oregon River

When a tanker crashes on the highway, it usually spills its cargo all over the roadway causing backups for miles as traffic holds up during the cleanup. In Oregon, however, one tanker crash spilled its precious cargo into a river, which was actually the only place that could keep its load safe and sound. That’s because the truck was filled with young salmon, which were on their way to be released in a different nearby river.

A fish tanker filled with more than 100,000 young chinook salmon crashed in Oregon last week, reports local news outlet the Baker City Herald. In the crash, the 53-foot truck rolled onto the passenger side, skidded across the pavement and flipped onto its roof after hitting a rocky embankment.

After colliding with the side of the road, the tanker split open, leaking its contents onto a riverbank next to the road. This spilled an estimated 77,000 salmon smolts, the technical term for a fish that’s around two-years-old, into the Lookingglass Creek, which runs alongside the road.

The remaining 25,000 chinook salmon smolts were found dead, either stranded on the river bank or inside the stricken tanker, said the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) in a statement. According to the agency: