ATLANTA -- Georgia Aquarium's CEO is speaking out about the death of a dolphin trainer.
Jose Barbero had been a dolphin trainer for some 27 years and was a consultant for the Georgia Aquarium.
Last month, animal rights activists posted a video allegedly showing Barbero hitting a dolphin at a facility in Mallorca, Spain. Last week, another video was posted showing another incident of abuse.
On Saturday, Barbero was found dead in his car outside an airport in Spain.
Georgia Aquarium CEO Mike Leven says the entire incident is a tragedy.
"I think there should be a lot of lessons learned in his for others," Leven said by phone. "That activists of any kind…passionate people….have to be careful that their passions are directed in a way that creates evidence. And if we had evidence that he was in fact guilty of training methods that were inappropriate, we never would have hired him."
The aquarium has no plans to hire anyone else to replace Barbero. Leven says they plan to use a program Barbero drew up to help improve the dolphin exhibit.
