LOS ANGELES – Federal prosecutors filed charges Wednesday against a sushi chef and a Santa Monica restaurant on allegations that they served illegal and endangered whale meat.

Typhoon Restaurant Inc., which owns The Hump restaurant, and sushi chef Kiyoshiro Yamamoto, 45, were charged with illegally selling an endangered species product, a misdemeanor.

According to a search warrant, marine mammal activists were served whale during three separate visits to the restaurant. Federal labs confirmed the meat came from a Sei whale, an endangered species protected by international treaties, documents said.

Agents also seized some suspected whale meat during a search of the restaurant Friday but are awaiting test results to confirm it was Sei whale, U.S. attorney spokesman Thom Mrozak said.

In October, two activists posing as customers went to The Hump and ordered "omakase," which means they let the chef choose the choicest fresh fish. They also requested whale and pocketed a sample.

The young women worked with Louie Psihoyos, director of the Oscar-winning documentary "The Cove," to record the meal with a hidden camera and microphone.

"These are endangered animals being cut up for dinner," Psihoyos said. "It's an abuse of science."

Psihoyos took their findings to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which started an investigation.

Activists claim the whale meat came from Japan's scientific whaling program and was illegally exported, but the U.S. attorney's office is still investigating the source of the meat.

Japan kills hundreds of whales in Antarctic waters each year under its research whaling program, which has triggered violent protests by conservationists and caused strong objections by diplomats in recent years.

An attorney for Typhoon, Gary Lincenberg, said the restaurant accepts responsibility for serving whale and will agree to pay a fine. If convicted, the company could be fined up to $200,000.

Court records say agents interviewed Yamamoto, a Culver City resident and a chef at The Hump for the past seven years, and he admitted serving whale to two young women.

Yamamoto's attorney, Mark Byrne, declined to comment on the charges, saying he hadn't had time to review them. If convicted, Yamamoto could face a year in prison and a fine of up to $100,000.

During the October restaurant visit, animal rights activist Crystal Galbraith, 27, and a friend who spoke fluent Japanese racked up a bill of $600, feasting on increasingly exotic dishes to gain the confidence of the waiters and chef.

"It was heartbreaking to eat an endangered animal, but I knew that I was doing it to save" the whales, said Galbraith, a vegan. "We were there eating for four hours. I felt so full and sick."

The waitress brought out a dish of whale sushi, identifying the whale in English and Japanese, court documents said. The dish was listed as whale on the check and cost $85.

The team sent samples to Scott Baker, a professor and cetacean specialist at Oregon State University's Marine Mammal Institute, for genetic testing. The results showed the meat was from a Sei whale, court records said.

The Sei whale is a baleen whale found throughout the world's oceans, and known for its graceful and quick swimming and its long, low vocalizations, Baker said. Fully grown, the mammal is longer than a bus.

Eating Sei whale meat is common in Japan, Korea and Norway and among native peoples in Alaska and Canada, but it is illegal to export the meat because of the Sei whale's endangered status.

In late February, when Psihoyos and the rest of his team were in Los Angeles for the Academy Awards, Galbraith and another friend returned to The Hump twice more.

This time, agents from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration sat at the bar and watched Yamamoto at work, court records said. During the third visit, another agent watched the chef go to his car and retrieve a package wrapped in clear plastic.

The appeal of 3-D movies helped boost movie ticket sales by nearly 8 percent to a record $29.9 billion worldwide in 2009, according to the Motion Picture Association of America.

The jump, from $27.8 billion a year earlier, was driven by a rise in ticket prices and the first increase in attendance in the U.S. and Canada in two years, the MPAA said. On top of that, theaters worldwide benefited from the popularity of 3-D movies, as they brought in more movie-goers, who buy tickets that cost more than regular screenings.

"Whenever screens are converted or built in 3-D the public seems to be embracing it," said Bob Pisano, the MPAA's president.

There were 20 movies released in 3-D last year, including the blockbuster "Avatar" and animated "Up." That's an increase from eight in 2008. The number of 3-D screens in the U.S. and Canada, meanwhile, more than doubled to 3,548 from 1,514.

Although 3-D movies represented less than 4 percent of the 558 films released all year, they accounted for $1.14 billion, or 11 percent of the $10.6 billion total box office haul in the U.S. and Canada. In fact, the bulk of the $1 billion increase in North American ticket sales is attributable to the 3-D movies; box office sales for 2-D movies increased by only about $70 million over 2008.

The overseas impact of 3-D was not as clear, but the number of screens capable of showing 3-D movies grew fivefold to 5,441 from 1,029.

The average ticket price in the U.S. and Canada rose 32 cents, or 4 percent, to $7.50, even though consumer prices for most goods fell amid the longest and deepest recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Despite tighter pursestrings, the number of tickets sold in the U.S. and Canada grew nearly 6 percent to 1.42 billion, as people sought a way to escape their worries. The number of yearly visits to the cinema rose to 4.3 per person from 4.2, the first increase since 2002, when it was 5.2 per person.

"We believe it's because in times of economic distress, people are looking for value," Pisano said, arguing that going to the movies with a family of four is still cheaper than attending a theme park or major sporting event.

From the beginning of the year through Tuesday, ticket sales were still rising, up nearly 5 percent from a year ago to $2.06 billion in the U.S. and Canada, helped by the continuing popularity of "Avatar," the MPAA said.

WASHINGTON – Actress Reese Witherspoon says her "Legally Blonde" character Elle Woods has been ousted as the most stylish woman to come to the nation's capital by first lady Michelle Obama.

Speaking Wednesday at a ceremony where Mrs. Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton presented the annual International Women of Courage awards, Witherspoon jokingly complained that Woods, the bubbly blonde from Los Angeles who discovers her inner strength at Harvard Law School and then takes on Washington politics, no longer held that title.

"As an actress, I have always sought out roles that portrayed women as strong and powerful, such as Elle Woods, who was in the 'Legally Blonde' movies," she said to laughter from the audience in an ornate State Department reception room.

Woods, she said, "happened to be the biggest fashionista who ever came to Washington until Michelle Obama. Thanks a lot."

Clinton then introduced Mrs. Obama as "stylish," and the first lady returned the compliment to the entire crowd, saying: "You all look fabulous."

Witherspoon was at the ceremony as a global ambassador for the Avon Foundation, which supports breast cancer research, anti-domestic violence programs and women's empowerment projects. On Wednesday the group announced a $500,000 contribution to the State Department's Fund for Global Women's Leadership.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Corey Haim, a Hollywood teen star of the 1980s who became as famous for his struggles with substance abuse as his acting, died in Los Angeles of an apparent prescription drug overdose. He was 38.

Canadian-born Haim, who rose to fame alongside fellow teen star Corey Feldman, was pronounced dead at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center early on Wednesday, police said.

"It was an apparent overdose," said Sergeant Frank Albarren of the Los Angeles Police Department's North Hollywood Station, adding the "type of medication" was unknown.

Ed Winter, assistant chief of the Los Angeles County coroner's office, told local television reporters Haim had been suffering flu-like symptoms and that his mother, who lived with the actor, found him distressed in the early morning hours and called paramedics who took him to the hospital.

He said coroners found some prescription medication in Haim's apartment but "no illicit drugs."

"There doesn't appear to be foul play," Winter said.

Haim first came to prominence in the 1986 movie "Lucas" alongside Charlie Sheen and Winona Ryder. Then came his biggest hit, "The Lost Boys" with Kiefer Sutherland, Jason Patric and Feldman, as well as "License to Drive," also with Feldman.

Haim became known for his on-screen partnership and off-screen friendship with Feldman, who also struggled with drug abuse.

They often were called "The Two Coreys" and the pair even starred in a reality TV series of the same name on U.S. cable television in 2006 but it was canceled before finishing the second season.

After battling a drug habit for years, Haim openly talked about overcoming his addictions around the time he was promoting his reality TV series and said that he had become clean and sober.

(Reporting by Christine Kearney; Editing by John O'Callaghan)