--- description: The owners of a defunct sushi restaurant pled guilty to serving whale meat on Tuesday, more than four years after a documentary film crew captured the illicit meal on tape. title: Sushi Restaurant Owners Plead Guilty to Serving Whale Meat image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1211bb4184deb2ad/6987694d0b72e383e76dbf9a/97622427.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Sushi Restaurant Owners Plead Guilty to Serving Whale Meat  by [Dan Kedmey](/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 18, 2014 5:09 PM CUT  The Hump Restaurant is seen in Santa Monica, California on Wednesday, March 10, 2010. The Hump Restaurant is seen in Santa Monica, California on Wednesday, March 10, 2010.Gabriel Bouys —AFP/Getty Images  by [Dan Kedmey](/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 18, 2014 5:09 PM CUT The owners of a defunct sushi restaurant [pled](http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-whale-meat-owner-guilty-plea-20141117-story.html "undefined") guilty Tuesday to serving whale meat, more than four years after a documentary film crew captured the illicit meal on tape. Brian Vidor, owner of The Hump restaurant in Santa Monica, California, and his parent company, Typhoon Restaurant Inc., agreed to pay a $27,500 fine for slicing up a serving of Sei whale, an endangered species protected by the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the Los Angeles _Times_ [reports](http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-whale-meat-owner-guilty-plea-20141117-story.html "undefined"). Sushi chefs at the Hump unwittingly served the meat to undercover agents for the the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The scene was captured on film by the documentarians behind _The Cove_, an Academy Award-winning expose of the dolphin meat trade. \[[_L.A. Times_](http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-whale-meat-owner-guilty-plea-20141117-story.html "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3592249/sushi-restaurant-whale-meat-guilty/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3592249/sushi-restaurant-whale-meat-guilty/"},"headline":"Sushi Restaurant Owners Plead Guilty to Serving Whale Meat","datePublished":"2014-11-18T17:09:11.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:14:41.512Z","description":"After the documentarians behind The Cove got footage of the crime","url":"https://time.com/3592249/sushi-restaurant-whale-meat-guilty/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Food & Drink","animals"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1211bb4184deb2ad/6987694d0b72e383e76dbf9a/97622427.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Dan Kedmey","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1211bb4184deb2ad/6987694d0b72e383e76dbf9a/97622427.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"The Hump Restaurant is seen in Santa Mon","caption":"The Hump Restaurant is seen in Santa Mon","creditText":"Gabriel Bouys —AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3592249/sushi-restaurant-whale-meat-guilty/","name":"Sushi Restaurant Owners Plead Guilty to Serving Whale Meat"}}]}] ```