Italian coastguard discovers 70-tonne dead whale off coast of Sorrento

Italian coastguard discovers 70-tonne dead whale off coast of SorrentoAP

The Italian coastguard has been left searching for answers after a 70-tonne whale carcass washed up on the shore of Sorrento.

The carcass is one of the largest ever found off the coast of Italy, the BBC reported.

Coastguard scuba diver were led there by a distressed whale calf.

It took two boats to move the giant dead whale to land.

It took two vessels to move the carcassGUARDIA COSTIERA/AFP via Getty I

Marine biologists are carrying out a post-mortem on the whale.

Maddalena Jahoda, of the whale-monitoring charity Tethys, told The Times: “Its death is a mystery, although it may have fallen victim to measles, which whales are vulnerable to when pollution lowers their immune systems."

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There are plans for the whale's huge skeleton to be displayed in a museum.

The young whale calf that led the coastguard to the carcass has disappeared.