Police were forced to shut down a busy Toronto highway interchange this weekend following an incident that resulted in what could best be described as either a seagull's dream come true, or an ichthyophobic nightmare.

Fish. Live fish. All over the road, where Highway 404 meets Highwway 401. 

On Sunday, Acting Sgt. Tim Dunnah of the OPP Highway Safety Division announced shortly before 2:30 p.m. that officers in Toronto were investigating a "commercial motor vehicle that has flipped over on its side."

"The transport truck is containing live fish," said Dunnah on Twitter, revealing that the truck's driver had been transported to hospital with minor injuries.

#HWY404 SB ramp to #HWY401 EB. Closed for a transport truck rollover. Minor injuries. Clean-up underway. ^td pic.twitter.com/dNlXvyHgHF

— OPP Highway Safety Division (@OPP_HSD) March 13, 2022

The southbound ramp from Highway 404 onto the eastbound 401 was closed as a result of the rollover and stayed that way for about two hours while crews cleaned up the mess.

Shooting a video live from the scene, Dunnah noted that the truck still had "livestock" in it and that some fish were "out of water."

Photos later shared by the OPP indeed show dozens of fish outside the truck, some of them seemingly crushed by a piece of debris.

An image showing the fish close up, lying in dirt and slush, broke some hearts.

A crash spewing live fish on the road. 💔
Imagine drowning. That’s what fish feel.
🐟#GoVegan

— Jenny McQueen (@VegJen) March 13, 2022

"I just feel sorry for the fish which underwent such atrocities.... anyway some truckers do not know the centripetal and friction couplet that operates on a curve. Badly need a physics course," wrote one Twitter user.

"I bet those fish could have never expected to die in a traffic accident," wrote another.

Others found humour in the situation, writing "have names of the victims been released, or are you still in the process of notifying Next of Fin?" and "I don't know something sounds real 'fishy' to me. Charges pending?"

It is not known if any of the fish survived their ordeal, though it's likely that they would have been killed eventually for food, as they were labelled livestock.