Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

In a photo Sunday, Kennedy was completely submerged in the water, and the grandchildren swam, despite ongoing National Park Service Consultation Consultation to avoid contact with the water in Washington, D.C., Parker “becauses the bacterial levels are high.” The same notice said swimming and wading were not allowed due to health risks.

"Stay away from water to protect river banks, flora and fauna, and keep you and your family (including pets!) from disease," the consulting firm notes. "Rock Creek has high levels of bacteria and other infectious pathogens that make swimming, wading and other contact with water harmful to human (and PET) health."

Kennedy said in an article on Sunday that he was hiking with his family and then “swimming with my grandson” at Rock Creek.

Since 1971, Washington, D.C. has banned swimming in Rock Creek, the Potomac River and other nearby waters.

The Department of Health and Human Services did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday night.

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A microbial source tracking report published by the DC government in 2022 said environmental water monitoring in Rock Creek showed “chronic elevated levels” of E. coli. According to a 2002 report from the DC Water and Sewer Administration, fecal coliforms from sewage were also deposited during the storm.

Kennedy revealed last year that he had a parasitic brain infection called a neurocyst, which is linked to the larvae of pork tapworms. This condition can lead to seizures, headaches, blindness, blurred vision, dizziness, mental illness, or memory loss. A Kennedy spokesman told the New York Times in 2024 that the issue was resolved 10 years ago.

Kennedy’s swimming photos are the latest in a series of outdoor series that has attracted public attention and censorship.

Kennedy said last year that he had received a letter from the National Institute of Marine Fisheries that he collected a letter from whale specimens 20 years ago. He also said he once picked up a bear cub that was hit by a van and planned to apply it to Central Park in New York City.