This story is quite incredible and tells a lot about the power of the new technologies and the help they can give even to the environmental crisis of our planet.

An 47 years old man from Rome was using  Google Earth and has discovered an unknown ship releasing huge amounts of some oily substance in the sea off the Italian city of Montalto di Castro (90 km NW of Rome). He immediately informed the Italian police that is now investigating.

In the following image you can easily realize the size of the huge stain: 

And here it's clearly visible (click on the image to enlarge it) the proximity to the beaches and to Montalto di Castro:

Via Google Earth

Use these coordinates for Google Earth:
42°18'33.61"N
11°28'0.89"E
or click here to see it in Google Maps.