Santa Monica Restaurant to Close for Serving Illegal Whale Meat

Score one for the whales — and for some amazing animal activists, too.

On Friday, a Santa Monica restaurant under fire for allegedly serving illegal whale meat announced it was set to close its doors as a "self-imposed punishment."

The Hump, an upscale eatery at the Santa Monica Airport, has been in the hot seat ever since animal activists and an associate producer of The Cove — this year's best documentary Oscar winner — snuck a camera into the restaurant and secretly recorded themselves ordering and receiving omakase, or chef's choice, which included eight pieces of illegal whale meat.

To prove it, activists took some of the meat out of the restaurant and sent it to the Marine Mammal Institute, where it was tested and determined to be Sei whale, an endangered species.

According to the Los Angeles Times, federal prosecutors last week charged The Hump owners in violation of the Marine Mammal Protection Act, a misdemeanor that carries a maximum penalty of one year in prison and a maximum fine of $200,000.

The Hump posted a public apology on its website, and confirmed it would be stop doing business on Saturday.

"The Hump hopes that by closing its doors, it will help bring awareness to the detrimental effect that illegal whaling has on the preservation of our ocean ecosystems and species," the statement read. "Closing the restaurant is a self-imposed punishment on top of the fine that will be meted out by the court. The owner of The Hump also will be taking additional action to save endangered species."

Kudos to the animal activists who exposed this illegal practice, and we do give a little bit of props to The Hump for admitting their mistake and making an effort to right a wrong.

Illustration by Edward Fuglo via Wikimedia Commons.