Scientists say they have found clear proof that meat from whales captured under Japan's whaling programme is being sold in US and Korean eateries.
The researchers say they used genetic fingerprinting to identify meat taken from a Los Angeles restaurant as coming from a sei whale sold in Japan.
They say the discovery proves that an illegal trade in protected species still exists.
Whale meat was also allegedly found at an unnamed Seoul sushi restaurant.
Commercial whaling has been frozen by an international moratorium since 1986.
But a controversial exemption allows Japan to kill several hundred whales each year for what is termed scientific research.
The meat from these whales is then sold to the public in shops and restaurants in that country.
From the article, it seems the meat was advertised straight up as whale meat. While it boggles the mind that eateries selling endangered species escaped notice for so long, I suppose it's better than the alternative: dolphin and whale meat with toxic levels of mercury deliberately mislabeled and sold to unwitting customers as more expensive stuff.
Wonder how toxic this stuff was?
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