Today was a big day for whales. 

Japan announces their intentions to expand their Antarctic whaling area for bogus scientific reasons, and coincidentally the news of a restaurant owner admitting to selling endangered sei whale in sunny Los Angeles finally comes to light in court. The whale meat that was served to two undercover people has been forensically linked to the bogus scientific research hunts conducted by Japan in the Antarctic. 

In 2009-2010, an undercover sting by a producer of The Cove OPS exposed whale meat being sold in Los Angeles' upscale beach community of Santa Monica. 

Restaurant Owner Admits He Allowed Sushi Chefs To Serve Whale Meat

the_hump.jpg
The Hump, prior to its closing in 2010 (AP Photo by Reed Saxon)

 - By Juliet Bennett Rylah November 18, 2014

The owner and parent company of a now-closed Santa Monica restaurant pleaded guilty to serving a protected species of whale meat to a customer. 

Under the terms of a plea deal, they're expected to pay over $27,000 in fines and be put on probation.
The Hump used to be a restaurant at the Santa Monica Municipal Airport, but it was shut down after a 2010 undercover investigation revealed that protected Sei whale meat was being served to customers. Typhoon Restaurant Inc.—the restaurant's parent company—and owner Brian Vidor pleaded guilty on Monday to one unlawful sale of marine mammal, the L.A. Times reports.
Vidor admitted that he knew sushi chefs Kiyoshiro Yamamoto and Susumu Ueda were serving whale and that he permitted it. Those chefs already pleaded guilty, but have not been sentenced.

If Judge Dale S. Fischer agrees to the terms of the plea, Typhoon and Vidor will pay a joint fine of $27,500. Typhoon will also be placed on 18 months of probation, while Vidor will face 12 months. The sentencing is scheduled for February 23.

The investigation into The Hump came about after the producers of the 2009's The Cove, a documentary about the dolphin hunting industry in Japan, secretly recorded whale meat being served. Undercover federal agents then went to The Hump where Yamamoto served them the meat, telling them in a whisper that it was whale. Tests of the meat later revealed it to be at least three years old.

History of the Whale; Part 1

On February 01, 2013 Betty Hallock wrote:
Grand jury indicts the Hump and sushi chefs in whale meat case

 The shuttered Hump restaurant in Santa Monica and two of its sushi chefs have been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges including selling sei whale meat, an announcement from the U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles says.

Typhoon Restaurant Inc., the parent company of the Hump, and Kiyoshiro Yamamoto and Susumu Ueda were named in the nine-count indictment. Other charges include conspiracy to import and sell meat from the endangered sei whale and lying to federal investigators.

The Hump closed in 2010 after an associate producer of the documentary "The Cove," which investigated the killing of dolphins in Japan, orchestrated a video sting. The Times reported that two participating activists asked if they could order whale meat as part of an omakase meal and a waitress served eight pieces, according to a federal affidavit. DNA tests confirmed the meat came from a sei whale, which is protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. It's illegal to sell any kind of whale meat in the U.S.
whale meat sushi

If convicted, Yamamoto faces up to 67 years in prison, and Ueda faces a maximum 10-year term. Typhoon would face fines totaling $1.2 million.

Yamamoto, 48, and Ueda, 39, allegedly ordered the whale meat from Ginichi Ohira, who has already pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge. According to the U.S. attorney's office, Ohira received the whale meat in the U.S., prepared an invoice that described the meat as fatty tuna and delivered it to the Hump.
The attorney for Yamamoto did not immediately return a call for comment.
James W. Spertus, the lawyer for Ueda, said, "It's very unfortunate that the U.S. attorney's office has decided to charge my client after years of doing nothing. The case was charged initially as a misdemeanor.
"The goverment's theory of this case is completely upside down. The federal government has given a pass to the most culpable person in this chain, the supplier, and instead has focused on the sushi chef serving what customers ordered."
Assistant U.S. Atty. Dennis Mitchell in the environmental crimes section said he had no comment.

The company and Yamamoto initially were charged three years ago, but prosecutors sought to have the charges dropped with the option to refile at a later date.

The chefs and the restaurant parent company are due in U.S. District Court in coming weeks, the announcement said.

Part 2: Forensic Proof

On April 14, 2010 Brian Merchant wrote about how the whale meat was traced back to sei whales (endangered) being sold in Japan back in 2007.

Scientists have used genetic fingerprinting to prove that whale meat found being sold at the Los Angeles restaurant The Hump came from the same sei whale that was sold in Japan in 2007. 

The sei whale is on the brink of extinction, and the LA restaurant caught serving the black market meat has been forced to close. 

But the most startling development is perhaps the fact that this evidence leads investigators to the unfortunate conclusion that the illegal whale meat trade is indeed still thriving.
The BBC has the story:
A team of scientists, film-makers and environmental advocates say they collected samples of whale meat being sold in sushi restaurants in both the US and South Korea late last year. A genetic analysis of meat found in Los Angeles showed that it was identical to meat from a sei whale being sold in Japan in 2007 ... Criminal proceedings have started against the Los Angeles restaurant caught selling the whale meat.
Japanese whale meat has also been identified in an unnamed eatery in the South Korean capital of Seoul. Specimens gathered there too have been determined to be genetically identical to whale meat bought in Japanese markets three years ago.
Minke Whale killed during so-called scientific research often ends up in markets. 
The scientists and advocates say that Japan should be forced to set up a reliable monitoring system to ensure that whale meat doesn't make it to the black market.
Ever since 1986, the international trade of whale meat has been banned between countries that signed that year's document produced by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, or CITES (CITES was in the news a bunch earlier this year too, but for failing to protect the trade of just about every endangered species imaginable--at least they banned ivory).

Also in February on this year Victoria Kim of the LA Times wrote:

Chefs Susumu Ueda and Kiyoshiro Yamamoto were indicted in early 2013 along with Typhoon Restaurant Inc., the parent company of the restaurant the Hump.
The restaurant closed in 2010 after a sting operation involving an associate producer of the Oscar-winning documentary “The Cove” revealed that whale was being served off-menu to customers.

But not everyone is angry at this chef.

Posted: Feb 19 2013 on Time Out LA
The windows at Yamakase are frosted over and the sign reads "Closed." But if you’re lucky enough to secure a seat at this invite-only restaurant, a Japanese omakase experience unlike any other in Los Angeles awaits.
Chef and owner Kiyoshiro Yamamoto, a surprisingly jolly Yama-san, has a storied past. He is the chef of the highly-praised but ill-fated—closed after serving illegal Sei whale—Santa Monica Airport restaurant, the Hump. This time around, though, at his year-old Palms restaurant, he's playing by the rules.
Behind the eight-seat sushi bar—the cramped, shoebox of a restaurant is somewhat devoid of atmosphere and seemingly makeshift with boxes spilling out from curtains and empty sake bottles lining shelves—Yama skillfully prepares course after course (we counted 20): jamón Iberico topped with Osetra caviar, orange clam with shiso, chawamushi with truffle butter, tenderloin steak with matsutake mushrooms, neatly cubed jellyfish presented in a soup spoon of cold sesame broth and a tomato wedge—chewy, slippery, cool, refreshing and absolutely delicious. According to a Japanese patron sitting next to me one night, Yamakase serves better sushi than 90% of the restaurants in Japan. And four hours, 20 courses and $300 later, I believed him.
Vitals
What to eat: It’s omakase, only, so what’s served is the chef’s choice and varies nightly. Expect exotic ingredients—jelly fish, poached monkfish liver and crab brains are just a few of the many surprises—and beautiful presentation.
Where to sit: The intimate sushi bar holds eight seats and one seating a night.
What to drink: There’s no corkage fee, so diners generally bring their own bottles of wine and sake. And they usually share with the chef. But, for those that don't BYO, there’s beer and two sakes by the glass or bottle.
Conversation piece: Diners can experience the "invitation only fine dining" by filling out a request form on the restaurant's website. A confirmation emails provides you with the restaurant's exact address.
- By Olive Ashmore
Want more nformation about whaling in Japan? WDC is a great start.