A Quebec seal hunter had to be airlifted to hospital this week after being attacked and seriously injured by a grey seal in Nova Scotia.
Denis Eloquin, captain of a sealing ship out of Iles-de-la-Madeleine, says federal fisheries officers had confiscated hakapiks — clubs tipped with sharp hooks — from six of his crew members earlier in the day because their hooks were judged to be too long.
He says 29-year-old crew member Alexis Boudreault was among those who lost their tools, and he was with nine other hunters on Pictou Island at the end of the day Tuesday when the attack occurred.
He says the 225-kilogram male seal charged the unarmed Boudreault, who tripped while trying to escape, and that was when the animal bit him in the leg.
His fellow sealers were able to provide first aid until the arrival of a Canadian Coast Guard rescue crew, and he was flown by helicopter to a hospital in Charlottetown.
His wounds required 26 stitches, but he was discharged the next day and has returned to Nova Scotia and intends to resume hunting when his wounds have healed.
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans did not immediately respond to a request for comment.