Feds urged to investigate story of RFK Jr. chainsawing a dead whale

An environmentalist non-profit is calling for an investigation of former presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who is accused of breaking endangered species laws by chainsawing the head off of a beached whale.

Kennedy, who is known for his role as an environmental attorney and for being the nephew of former President John F. Kennedy, was revealed to have used a chainsaw to decapitate a dead whale and take the trophy home on his car roof. While his daughter Kick Kennedy likely did not intend the anecdote to be controversial when she shared it with Town & Country Magazine in 2012, the Washington D.C.-based Center for Biological Diversity Action Fund claims Kennedy committed a felony by transporting the skull from the beach of Squaw Island in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts across state lines.

Brett Hartl, the center’s national political director, alleged that Kennedy violated the Lacey Act of 1900, which prohibits possessing “any part of an animal” protected by the Marine Mammal Protection and Endangered Species acts. In his letter, Hartl asked the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to investigate the claim.

"Normally, an unverified anecdote would not provide sufficient evidence as the basis for conducting an investigation," Hartl said in the letter, according to Axios. "However, Mr. Kennedy has admitted that he has recklessly — and with no regard to legal requirements — taken other species of wildlife for his own personal benefit."

Hartl was of course referring to a separate incident earlier this month, in which RFK Jr. shared a video of himself discussing dumping a dead bear in New York City's Central Park. The former presidential candidate has had other strange animal encounters: in May, it came out that in a 2012 deposition, he admitted a worm (seemingly a pork tapeworm larva) had crawled into his head, eaten part of his brain and died. He has also received criticism lately from his own family members, including his sister Kerry Kennedy, who have condemned his decision to endorse Donald Trump for president.