NOAA: RFK Jr. whale head allegation unfounded

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said Wednesday an allegation about former independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his “reported collection of a whale skull” was “unfounded.”

In an emailed statement to The Hill, NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) said that in late August, “NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement received a letter reporting a possible violation of a federal marine resource law regarding Robert F. Kennedy’s reported collection of a whale skull.”

“Following standard procedure, the office initiated an investigation into the matter,” the statement continued. “The office determined the allegation to be unfounded and closed its investigation on Wednesday, October 16, 2024.”

Last month, Kennedy confirmed he was under investigation for “collecting a whale specimen 20 years ago.”

“Right after I endorsed President Trump, I received a letter from the ‘National Marine Fisheries Institute’ saying that they were investigating me for collecting a whale specimen 20 years ago,” Kennedy said at an Arizona campaign event for former President Trump, seemingly referring to the NMFS.

“This is all about the weaponization of our government against political opponents of the party in power,” Kennedy added later.

In 2012, Kennedy’s daughter Kick told Town & Country Magazine that her father cut the head off a whale that had washed up on the shore in Hyannis Port, Mass., when she was a child. The interview gained traction again recently after he ended his campaign and endorsed Trump.

An environmental advocacy group in August called for Kennedy to be investigated over the incident. The Center for Biological Diversity Action Fund said in a letter to NOAA it is “illegal to possess any part of an animal, dead or alive” under the Marine Mammal Protection Act and Endangered Species Act and that NOAA should open an investigation.

The Hill has reached out to Kennedy’s former presidential campaign.