Family members with the infamous Kennedy last name who thought they were doing a good deed and saving an endangered sea turtle may actually have broken federal law.
Max Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., brothers who freed a leatherback turtle from a buoy line during a Fourth of July celebration, now face fire from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Division of Fisheries, The Associated Press reported. John Bullard, with the agency, says saving the 500-pound turtle violates the Endangered Species Act.
The Kennedys should instead have contacted the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies — the closest agency with the legal right to handle the turtles, he said, in the Cape Cod Times.
But the brothers are contrite.
Robert Kennedy said on the NOAA’s website that they understand their actions were “pretty risky,” AP reported.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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