Eatery Charged for Selling Whale Meat

Looks like the Free Willy hand roll will no longer be on the menu. A sushi restaurant in Santa Monica, California, and one of its chefs were charged Wednesday with selling endangered-whale meat. Illegal sale of a marine mammal product is a misdemeanor that comes with a maximum penalty of one year in prison and a fine of $100,000 for an individual, or $200,000 for an organization. "Someone should not be able to walk into a restaurant and order a plate of an endangered species," said U.S. Attorney André Birotte Jr. in a statement. The allegations came when a New York Times story revealed the restaurant, Hump, had served endangered Sei whale meat, which may have come right out of the trunk of a white Mercedes.