Federal marine agency concludes investigation into RFK Jr.'s whale carcass incident
NOAA's Office of Law Enforcement assessed the claim and concluded that it was “to be unfounded.”
TroibNews 
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will not face federal charges regarding allegations that he transported a dead whale's head from Massachusetts to New York decades ago and kept the skull at his home.
A spokesperson for NOAA confirmed that the agency's Office of Law Enforcement concluded its investigation into the claim, initially made by Kennedy’s daughter Kathleen “Kick” Kennedy in a 2012 article for Town & Country magazine, on October 16, after determining that the allegation was unfounded.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has stated that the story is false.
Following the suspension of his independent presidential campaign on August 23, Kennedy endorsed Donald Trump for a second term and became a surrogate at campaign rallies. The magazine article story resurfaced following his endorsement of the Republican ticket.
Kennedy first mentioned the NOAA investigation during a Trump campaign event in Arizona, portraying the inquiry as an instance of “the weaponization of our government against political opponents.”
NOAA revealed that it initiated the investigation in response to a request from the Center for Biological Diversity Action Fund, which submitted a petition to the agency on August 26. NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement noted that it "takes all reports of alleged violations seriously."
Messages left for Stefanie Spear, a spokesperson for Kennedy, were not returned on Monday morning. However, she commented to CNN: “I hope this frees up NOAA’s enforcement resources so that they can finally investigate the 109 Atlantic whale deaths since 2022 in proximity to offshore wind projects.”
NOAA has stated that there is no evidence linking offshore wind turbine vibrations or sonar technologies used for turbine placement to harm whales. One scientist studying whale fatalities last year described allegations connecting sonar to beached humpback whales as a "conspiracy theory."
Brett Hartl, the national political director for the CBD Action Fund, mentioned that he had not received any official communication regarding NOAA's decision to close the investigation but expressed, “I’m glad NOAA did some amount of due diligence here, and we respect their decision to close it.”
Kennedy, an environmental activist who has diverged from many of his past allies, is opposed to offshore wind energy development, citing concerns about its potential harm to federally protected whales. This sentiment has also been echoed by Trump, including in a recent webcast interview with podcaster Joe Rogan.
“Those things are 50-story buildings, some of them. The wind is rushing. The things are blowing. It’s a vibration and it makes noise,” Trump stated. “You know what it is? I want to be a whale psychiatrist. It drives the whales frickin’ crazy.”
Camille Lefevre contributed to this report for TROIB News
A spokesperson for NOAA confirmed that the agency's Office of Law Enforcement concluded its investigation into the claim, initially made by Kennedy’s daughter Kathleen “Kick” Kennedy in a 2012 article for Town & Country magazine, on October 16, after determining that the allegation was unfounded.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has stated that the story is false.
Following the suspension of his independent presidential campaign on August 23, Kennedy endorsed Donald Trump for a second term and became a surrogate at campaign rallies. The magazine article story resurfaced following his endorsement of the Republican ticket.
Kennedy first mentioned the NOAA investigation during a Trump campaign event in Arizona, portraying the inquiry as an instance of “the weaponization of our government against political opponents.”
NOAA revealed that it initiated the investigation in response to a request from the Center for Biological Diversity Action Fund, which submitted a petition to the agency on August 26. NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement noted that it "takes all reports of alleged violations seriously."
Messages left for Stefanie Spear, a spokesperson for Kennedy, were not returned on Monday morning. However, she commented to CNN: “I hope this frees up NOAA’s enforcement resources so that they can finally investigate the 109 Atlantic whale deaths since 2022 in proximity to offshore wind projects.”
NOAA has stated that there is no evidence linking offshore wind turbine vibrations or sonar technologies used for turbine placement to harm whales. One scientist studying whale fatalities last year described allegations connecting sonar to beached humpback whales as a "conspiracy theory."
Brett Hartl, the national political director for the CBD Action Fund, mentioned that he had not received any official communication regarding NOAA's decision to close the investigation but expressed, “I’m glad NOAA did some amount of due diligence here, and we respect their decision to close it.”
Kennedy, an environmental activist who has diverged from many of his past allies, is opposed to offshore wind energy development, citing concerns about its potential harm to federally protected whales. This sentiment has also been echoed by Trump, including in a recent webcast interview with podcaster Joe Rogan.
“Those things are 50-story buildings, some of them. The wind is rushing. The things are blowing. It’s a vibration and it makes noise,” Trump stated. “You know what it is? I want to be a whale psychiatrist. It drives the whales frickin’ crazy.”
Camille Lefevre contributed to this report for TROIB News
