Up to 15,000 crabs made a break for freedom after the truck they were being transported in crashed into a ditch in Co Donegal.
The haul of up to 15,000 crabs, worth an estimated €60,000, spilled from aluminium containers while in transit and escaped into a field.
However, their great escape was short-lived as workers managed to claw most of them back.
The crustaceans were bound for shops and restaurants in Portugal when the incident occurred at Carrickmaquigley, Redcastle, around 7.30am yesterday.
Donegal County Council immediately closed the road to allow for a massive recovery operation on the R238 road between Quigley's Point and Moville.
It was choppy waters for a while as the operation lasted up to 18 hours.
The driver of the lorry was not injured following the single-vehicle crash.
The crabs had been caught by local fishermen around Inishowen and were being transported by Mickey Hiboy, McLaughlin Transport.
Odhran McLaughlin, of McLaughlin's Light and Heavy Recovery Services of Burnfoot, explained how they were contracted to reload the container and to recover the vehicle.
He estimated they managed to save up to 95% of the crabs.
Huge nightlights had to be installed to allow workers to sift through the crabs and to bag them.
A hydraulic crane also had to be brought on site to get the lorry cab and then its container back onto the road.
Mr McLaughlin added it was one of the more unusual call-outs they have had.
He said: "It was a very unusual scene to say the least. When we arrived a lot of the crabs had spilled out of their containers and were making a bid for freedom into the fields.
"A team of up to ten of us had to physically retrieve the crabs and put them into large bags and reload them onto the truck. It took a good few hours to fill the bags."
Mr McLaughlin said that while the operation took a long time, they were able to retrieve "up to 95%" of the crustaceans.
While the crabs may have been shell-shocked following their dramatic day, they were loaded back onto the truck and sent onwards to Portugal.
