BARNSTABLE, Mass. — July 17, 2013 — Two members of the Kennedy family who thought they were doing a good deed by freeing an entangled sea turtle actually violated the law, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
John Bullard of NOAA’s Division of Fisheries said he spoke to brothers Max and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. about their rescue of the leatherback turtle and explained to them that what they did was dangerous and a violation of the Endangered Species Act, which makes it illegal to handle an endangered or protected species.
The Kennedys freed the estimated 500-pound turtle from a buoy line wrapped around its head and fins on July 6 after they spotted it while out sailing on Nantucket Sound.
Read the full story from the Associated Press at Boston.com