A 7.6-meter whale, wounded but alive, was discovered stranded on a beach in northern France on Monday, authorities said. Experts hope the rising tide will help the whale get back on its way.

The animal’s appearance this far south is rare, as this particular species of beaked whale typically swims in deep Arctic waters, they said.

The female whale, who sustained non-life-threatening injuries, probably landed on the beach “because she was disoriented,” said Jacky Karpouzopoulos, head of CMNF, a wildlife mammal conservation association in northern France.

He said it was “extraordinary” to see this northern whale species so far south.

“I’ve never experienced anything like this in my 40 years of work,” he said.

It was not possible to lift the animal back into the water, he said. Instead, the rescuers hoped that the rising tide would allow the animal to swim back up and swim away, he said.

The whale has a bleeding head wound, an AFP journalist saw, but local mayor Guy Allemand said the injury was superficial and not the reason it washed up on shore.

He said there would be an autopsy if the whale didn’t survive.

In February, a 9.5-metre-long female humpback whale was found dead on a northern French beach in another “extraordinary” event, according to Karpouzopoulos.

Earlier this year, an orca – dubbed “Sedna” by marine conservation organization Sea Shepherd – was seen lost in the Seine but died despite intensive efforts to rescue it.

This summer, a sick beluga whale that had strayed into the Seine was euthanized by vets after a last-minute rescue attempt failed because of its rapidly deteriorating health.