The staff at the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies (IMMS) said in a statement that two whales, which they rescued from a Waveland beach on Tuesday, are actually pygmy killer whales and not melon-headed whales, which they previously thought.

IMMS director Moby Solangi said, "Even less is known about pygmy killer whales than melon-headed whales. 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 through which they would distinguish them from other whales.

He said in a statement that features like teeth, jaw structure and bones helping to distinguish the animals cannot be checked right away when dealing with an animal which is in critical condition.

Scientists from all over the world have sent information to IMMS that could help to properly identify the whales. The recovery process of the whale is still the same and both whales seem to be healing and getting used to their surroundings, said Solangi.

He said the whales couldn't swim by themselves at all when we first rescued them. But now they are swimming totally independent of aid and are showing increased signs of recovery.

The IMMS entire team is working hard to see if the whales' hearing had been affected during their journey. According to experts, sometimes whales go off course because their hearing is destroyed. 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.