The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency has closed its case against Robert F. Kennedy Jr., dropping its allegations that he transported the body of a dead whale from Massachusetts to New York decades ago, keeping the animal’s skull in his home.
The claim that RFK Jr. transported the whale was first made by his daughter, Kathleen “Kick” Kennedy, in a 2012 magazine article published by Town & Country. The investigation was closed on Oct. 16, with a NOAA spokesperson saying authorities “determined the allegations to be unfounded.”
The story resurfaced after Kennedy ended his presidential campaign on Aug. 23 and backed former President Donald Trump’s candidacy. Kennedy has since said the story is false and claimed it was a “weaponization of our government against political opponents.”
The NOAA said it launched the investigation because the Center for Biological Diversity Action Fund sent them a letter on Aug. 26, prompting the NOAA to look into the case. The agency claims it “takes all reports of alleged violations seriously.”
Brett Hartl, the national political director for the CBD Action Fund, claimed he had not seen any formal notice that the NOAA was dropping the investigation but said, “I’m glad NOAA did some amount of due diligence here, and we respect their decision to close it.”
Kennedy’s spokeswoman, Stefanie Spear, told CNN on Monday morning, “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.”
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Kennedy, a controversial environmental activist, opposes offshore wind energy development, claiming that it harms whales. However, the NOAA has said that there is no evidence offshore wind turbines affect whales. Some scientists have dubbed the idea a “conspiracy theory.”
Trump also spoke about the theory, most recently during his interview on Joe Rogan’s podcast last week, saying, “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 said. “You know what it is? I want to be a whale psychiatrist. It drives the whales frickin’ crazy.”
