March 10, 2010
Feds search Calif. sushi restaurant for whale meat
The Associated PressA special agent for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has requested a warrant to search a California sushi restaurant where activists say they were served illegal whale meat.
Federal prosecutors said Wednesday they plan to file charges against The Hump restaurant in Santa Monica for violating the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
Two undercover diners working with the producers of the Oscar-winning documentary "The Cove" requested whale as part of a $600 omakase (oh-mah-KAH'-say), or chef's choice, meal. They pocketed a sample, and genetic testing confirmed that it was meat from the endangered Sei whale.
Messages left for an attorney for The Hump were not immediately returned Wednesday.