The demonstration drew a crowd of curious onlookers

The controversial environmental activists hauled the fin whale to Berlin from the Baltic coast after finding it beached on a sandbank.

The dead whale measured 17m (56ft) long and weighed 20 tonnes.

Activists are trying to demonstrate that there is no need to kill the mammals for research - as Japan does - because cadavers can be found.

Japan is expected to kill 935 minke whales in the Southern Ocean whale sanctuary during the first four months of 2006.

The whale got stuck in the Baltic's shallow waters

Critics dispute Japan's claim to be whaling for scientific purposes, saying whale meat often ends up on restaurant tables.

A Greenpeace banner in Berlin read: "Science doesn't need harpoons! Stop the senseless whaling!"

The fin whale in Berlin - between 10 and 20 years old - is believed to have got lost in the Baltic while looking for herring. Its normal habitat is the North Atlantic.

The whale is due to be taken to Stralsund on the coast for scientific examination after the Greenpeace protest.