Max and Robert Kennedy are in hot water with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for rescuing a large turtle that was tangled in a buoy line.
They rescued a 500-pound turtle in Nantucket Sound over the 4th of July holiday.
"When we spotted a sea turtle in trouble over the 4th of July weekend, our first impulse was to do what we could to help free the animal," Robert Kennedy told local newspaper Cape Cod Online . "But we realize that the action we took was pretty risky, these are large, powerful animals."
The Endangered Species Protection Act means that handling the endangered turtle is against the law.
Max and Robert are certified in wildlife rehabilitation, but rescuing large sea animals is a completely different ball game.
The Kennedy brothers’ hearts were in the right place, but these types of rescues are best left to the experts.
In this case, those experts are Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies. Employees there are certified to rescue turtles.
"You can get entangled, go under, and it can turn into a tragedy," regional manager John Bullard told the Associated Press .
Image: By Ryan Somma via Wikimedia Commons
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