Charles Hambleton, an associate producer of the Oscar-winning documentary “The Cove” learned from friends that a restaurant in Santa Monica, CA was serving whale. He decided to team up with animal activists who dined at the restaurant while wearing small cameras and mini microphones. “Video of their meal shows the two activists, both vegan, being served what the waitress can be heard calling “whale†— thick pink slices — that they take squeamish bites of before tossing into a Ziploc bag in a purse,” reports the New York Times.
The meat was taken to a lab which was found to be the flesh of the Sei Whale.
- Sei Whale: Photo found on www.marinewhales.com
So how is it possible that a sushi restaurant called The Hump in Santa Monica, California was serving “thick pink slices” of meat which were later found to be the flesh of Sei whale, which is an endangered species?
It is called “kujira” in Japanese and this marine mammal has been dwindling in numbers for years. The Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 makes it illegal to take these mammals from U.S. waters and the Sei whales are protected internationally, but that hasn’t stopped Japan from killing these creatures. Claiming that they need them for scientific purposes, Japan has exempted itself from the moratorium on capturing the whales.
The question most people are asking now is “how could Sei Whale meat end up in a sushi restaurant in one of the most environmentally friendly places in the United States?”
