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topicnews · October 26, 2024

The agency is ending its investigation into RFK Jr.’s whale head allegations

The agency is ending its investigation into RFK Jr.’s whale head allegations

A federal investigation into allegations that former presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. removed the head of a whale that washed ashore on Squaw Island in Hyannisport 30 years ago and took it to his home in Mount Kisco, New York. transported, was therefore discontinued by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

In September, Kennedy admitted during a campaign rally for former President Donald Trump that the National Marine Fisheries Services, a division of NOAA, was investigating him over the alleged 1994 incident.

NOAA spokeswoman Katherine Silverstein confirmed Friday that the agency’s law enforcement arm has closed the case.

What triggered the investigation?

The investigation was launched in August after a 2012 interview with Kennedy’s daughter, Kick Kennedy, resurfaced in Town and Country magazine in which she recalled the whale story from her early childhood – when she founded the Center for Biological Diversity Action Fund, an environmental organization, directed a letter to NOAA requesting an investigation.

NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement “takes all reports of suspected violations seriously,” Silverstein said in an email, noting that the agency received the letter on Aug. 26 reporting “a possible violation of a federal law on marine resources in relation to the reported collection of Robert F. Kennedy.” of a whale skull.

‘Unfounded’

“The office initiated an investigation into the matter in accordance with standard procedure. The office determined the allegation was without merit and concluded the investigation on Wednesday, October 16,” she said.

According to the conservation organization, under the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act, “it is illegal to possess any part of an animal, dead or alive, that is protected by either law.” The organization called for the release of “all illegal acquired wildlife” that could remain in Kennedy’s possession, claiming that it would constitute “a significant and ongoing violation of the law” if he continued to possess parts of the whale skull.

In an interview with the magazine, Kick Kennedy, now 36, told the magazine that her father found the whale’s carcass and cut off its head with a chainsaw after hearing that it had washed up on Squaw Island, a swampy area in Hyannisport, which was home to a Kennedy family property called Brambletyde. She claimed he then strapped the whale head to the roof of the family vehicle and transported it to New York.

“Every time we accelerated on the highway, whale juice would flow into the windows of the car, and it was the most disgusting thing on the planet,” Kick Kennedy told Town and Country in 2012. She was six years old at the time when she claimed the incident occurred.

There was no immediate response available Friday from the Center for Biological Diversity Action Fund.

Heather McCarron writes about climate change, the environment, energy, science and the outdoors, in addition to news and features in Barnstable and Brewster. Reach her at hmccarron@capecodonline.com

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