Jeffrey Ventri News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Jeffrey -- >> no. >> jeffrey, let me ask you, were you surprised to hear something like this had happened? >> sure. you don't expect something like this to happen. tilikum is a great animal and dawn is a great trainer. i'm sad it did happen, shocked. >> yet, tilikum has a history. so, were you aware of this history? >> um, yes, i was aware of the history. >> and do you think it's surprising then that tilikum would attack again? two other instances where people died. do you think this animal should still have access to humans? >> only the most experienced trainers get to work with tilikum. i'm ...

To you one way and in this case, it is to pull nut water. >> reporter: no matter what tilikum has done, the orca network believes seaworld will keep him. as the primary breeding male for all seaworld parks, he is worth millions. at a time whales are dying faster than they are being born, tilikum is seaworld's future. randi kaye, cnn, new york. >> joining us now are paula gillespie. she was there at the park with her family and watching the show with her young daughter when this happened. on the phone, jeffrey ventri. he worked with tilikum. he is now out of the profession. paula, let's start w...

>> and she was very interactive with him and he was with her and she reinforced their affection and give him kisses on the nose. >> boy. >> i mean, when the show ended, it was -- seemed perfectly fine. >> all right. jeffrey, do you have a theory why seaworld still has this animal, tilikum, in the tank, despite all these past instances? >> sure. he has sired, i believe, 13 offspring, ten of which i think are still alive, and he is a great breeder and he is a beautiful animal. >> so, in other words, he's male breeder. they actually essentially use him to breed new animals and they need him on th...

As the primary breeding male for all seaworld parks, he is worth billions. tilikum is seaworld's future. randi kaye, cnn, new york. >> joining us now are paula gillespie. she was there at the park with her family and watching the show with her young daughter when this happened. on the phone, jeffrey ventri, he worked with tilikum. he's now out of the profession. paula, let's start with you. you were there, you were an eyewitness to this. it sounds terrifying. would you describe exactly what happened? >> we had left the dine with shamu show. and we went down to look at his full body underneath ...

Why seaworld still has this animal, tilikum, in the tank, despite all these past instances? >> sure. he's sired, i believe, 13 offspring, 10 of which i think are still alive and he's a great breeder and he's a beautiful animal. >> so in other words, he's male breeder. they essentially use him to breed new animals and they need him on their team? is that what you are saying? >> well, he provided semen to impregnate females. he's beautiful animal. he is huge. he is impressive. and people just see him and go, wow. and you know, he is -- he is a money stream as well as a great animal. >> jeffrey v...