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A young sperm whale was found washed up on a beach with a stomach packed full of plastic bags.
Horrific pictures show the animal, believed to be seven years old, laying on the beach in popular tourist spot Cefalu, Sicily.
Greenpeace Italia were called to assist in the investigation and clean-up operation - sharing images on Facebook which show the shocking amount of rubbish removed from the carcas.
The organisation's Giorgia Monti said in a statement: "As you can see from the images we're sharing, a lot of plastic was found in its stomach.
"A probe of the sperm whale's death has just started and we don't know yet if the animal died because of this, but we certainly can't pretend that nothing is happening.
"Five sperm whales beached on Italian coasts in the last five months."