Santa Monica, Calif., sushi restaurant accused of serving illegal, endangered whale closes

SoCal restaurant accused of serving whale closes

LOS ANGELES — A Santa Monica sushi restaurant accused of serving illegal and endangered whale meat is closing its doors.

A statement posted on the restaurant’s Web site, thehump.biz, says it’s voluntarily closing its doors on Saturday. A sushi chef at the high-end restaurant allegedly was caught serving whale meat.

Typhoon Restaurant Inc., the parent company of The Hump, and the chef were each charged with illegally selling an endangered species product, a misdemeanor.

Gary S. Lincenberg, an attorney for Typhoon, has said the restaurant accepted responsibility for the wrongdoing.