Dead whale found in cove in Italian island of Capri

A 13-meter long (43 ft) dead whale was found Saturday in a cove off the southern Italian island of Capri.

Videomaker Ivan Rubino spotted the carcass as he was on a hike with his girlfriend and filmed it with his drone.

Two days later the dead body was towed away by the Italian coast guard and brought to the mainland for an autopsy.

Veterinarians haven't been able to determine the cause of death.

"We found an important amount of parasites in her intestines," said Claudia Gili, veterinarian and marine mammal expert at Naples' Anton Dohrn Zoological Station.

"It was difficult to assess if this was the primary cause of her death. On the top of this, the animal was very emaciated and very skinny, which showed that she had been sick and losing weight for a while."

Gili said that whales are often wounded in collisions with ships, and frequently face problems with infections, toxins and plastic ingestion.

The skeleton of the giant mammal will be donated to the new Darwin-Dohrn museum, which is set to open on Naples' seafront next year.

(Image Credits: Unsplash)