June 21, 2025 #1 Local News, Information and Event Source for the Century City/Westwood areas.

Santa Monica Restaurant Charged with Selling Endangered Whale

Federal prosecutors have charged the owners of a now-closed Santa Monica sushi restaurant and two chefs with serving dishes prepared with the meat of endangered Sei whales. The nine-count indictment that was unsealed in Santa Monica says The Hump restaurant, which is owned by Typhoon Restaurants, Inc., conspired to import and sell meat from Sei whales, which are listed as an endangered species and are protected under the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act. Federal officials were tipped off to the availability of the whale meat by the makers of an Oscar-winning documentary, â€œThe Cove,â€ which mounted an undercover investigation