Environmental groups are calling for an investigation into Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in response to a claim that he sawed off a whale’s head to bring home.
Last week, a 2012 interview with Kennedy’s daughter reemerged, during which she detailed a time that her father sawed off the head of a whale with a chainsaw, strapped it to the family car, and drove it across state lines back to his home to study. The Center for Biological Diversity Action Fund is now demanding that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration launch an investigation into Kennedy to figure out whether he violated the Endangered Species Act, Marine Mammal Protection Act, and Lacey Act.
The letter, obtained by the Washington Post, said that it is illegal to possess a part of any animal, dead or alive, that is protected under the ESA and MMPA. It argued that since several whale species in the Atlantic Ocean are considered endangered, his continued possession of the skull could be illegal.
“Furthermore, Mr. Kennedy’s apparent transport of the marine mammal skull from Massachusetts to New York, and therefore across state lines, also represented a felony violation of the Lacey Act, one of the earliest wildlife conservation laws enacted by the United States in 1900,” Brett Hartl, national political director for the group, wrote.
“There are good reasons why it is illegal for any person to collect or keep parts of any endangered species. Most importantly, vital research opportunities are lost when individuals scavenge a wildlife carcass and interfere with the work of scientists,” the letter continued. “This is particularly true of marine mammals, which are some of the most difficult wildlife species in the world to study. Indeed, some beaked whales are so difficult to observe that the only way scientists have learned about them is when dead ones wash ashore.”
The Center for Biological Diversity is a vocal supporter of Vice President Kamala Harris and a militant opponent of former President Donald Trump. The group’s attack against Kennedy came just days after he suspended his 2024 campaign and endorsed Trump.
The Washington Examiner reached out to Kennedy for comment.
The interview with Kick Kennedy for Town & Country Magazine 12 years ago was intended to illustrate the uniqueness of the family growing up.
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“Every time we accelerated on the highway, whale juice would pour into the windows of the car, and it was the rankest thing on the planet,” she said. “We all had plastic bags over our heads with mouth holes cut out, and people on the highway were giving us the finger, but that was just normal day-to-day stuff for us.”
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. also drew headlines after admitting earlier this month that he was the one who had placed a dead bear cub in New York City’s Central Park a decade ago.
