What was meant to be a day of capturing nature’s beauty turned into an unexpected injury for Canadian wildlife photographer Peter Mather, 50, who was struck in the face by a 15lb sockeye salmon at Tahltan Lake in British Columbia.

Mather had been photographing thousands of salmon attempting to leap up a man-made waterfall when one fish miscalculated its jump, flying out of the water and hitting him directly in the eye socket.

“There were about 10,000 salmon in the pool,” Mather said. “One salmon surprised me by jumping only one foot in front of me and hit me straight in the eye socket. A sockeye salmon punched me in the eye socket. How ridiculous. It felt like being punched by a 200-pound man.”

The impact left him with a black eye, but fortunately no serious injuries. Despite the painful mishap, Mather continued his work, laughing at the bizarre accident.

The incident has since gone viral, with many calling it one of the most unusual wildlife encounters caught on camera.