A 29-year-old man from the Magdalen Islands had to be airlifted to a hospital after he was attacked by a 226 kilogram (500 pound) seal on Tuesday.

Alexis Boudreault was flown from Nova Scotia’s Pictou Island, where the attack occurred, to a hospital in Charlottetown, where he received 26 stitches. He was able to return home two days later.

Boudreault was out on a seal hunting expedition with several others and armed with a hakapik — a club with a hammer head and hook, designed for seal hunting.

His weapon was confiscated by agents from the Fisheries and Oceans Canada because it was not up to code.

The captain of the expedition, Denis Éloquin, said they were told that the length of their hakapiks did…