Two juvenile whales rescued from a Waveland beach Tuesday have presented more surprises for the staff at the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies.
IMMS director Moby Solangi said the staff has determined the whales are pygmy killer whales, not melon-headed whales, as they had originally thought.
"Even less is known about pygmy killer whales than melon-headed whales," Solangi said. "They are one of the most unique marine creatures in the world."
Solangi said because the whales are juveniles, they do not yet have the mature traits that would help distinguish them from other whales.
"Things like teeth, jaw structure and bones help to distinguish the animals," he said. "When dealing with an animal in critical condition, you can't check those things right away."
Scientists from around the world sent information to IMMS that helped properly identify the whales.
Solangi said the recovery process is still the same and both whales seem to be healing and getting used to their surroundings.
"They couldn't swim by themselves at all when we first rescued them," he said. "Now they are swimming totally independent of aid and are showing increased signs of recovery."
The IMMS team is now working to see if the whales' hearing had been affected during their journey.
"Sometimes whales go off course because their hearing is destroyed," he said. "That can be a huge problem for an animal that relies so heavily on picking up noises and wavelengths."
The whales will stay at IMMS for about 30 days to regain their strength before the team plans a trip to return them to the wild.
"We'll work with other agencies to find a (family) pod that will accept the whales into their hierarchy," he said. "We're expecting to have to travel 200 miles to find a suitable environment to bring them back (to)."
