Updated at 10:35 a.m. May 27, 2015

SeaWorld’s season of bad publicity took another turn for the worse this week with release of a 15-minute TEDx Talk on harmed orca families and the announcement of eight San Diego street protests — including one during Sunday’s Rock ‘N’ Roll Marathon.

Two years after “Blackfish” drew fiscal blood, the marine park operator faced more than ticket-buyer lawsuits and a critical book by a former trainer.

Killer whale researcher Naomi Rose, a longtime thorn in SeaWorld’s side, gave a mid-April talk in Bend, Oregon, as part of the TED Talk spinoff TEDx. It was posted Monday on YouTube and had nearly 1,500 views late Tuesday.

Rose focused on orca family life and said captivity damages their matriarchal society. Her lecture was sprinkled with laughter, but turned dark when she showed blood spurting from blowholes and revived the issue of orcas killing their trainers.

She said SeaWorld’s separation of young orcas from their mothers is akin to taking a toddler away from a human mom.

“How can it be morally right for us to do to others even when the others aren’t human — even if we considered it devastating if it happened to us?” she asked. “That comparison isn’t anthropomorphizing. It’s empathy.”

A month ago, however, a stock market columnist named Alex Pitti wrote about his contacts with SeaWorld veterinarians and said: “I’ve been recommending SeaWorld (NYSE:SEAS) stock since January 2nd. It is my top idea.”

He said share prices were up over 20 percent since his first article, “so it has certainly done well for me and my readers…. [The] stock must be bought.”

Pitti said Rose had been slamming SeaWorld for more than 20 years, and “the attacks haven’t had much of an effect on sales until the ‘Blackfish’ movie. This makes me believe the decline in sales was [a] one-off event instead of a long-term downtrend.”

He wrote: “What is central to the argument about whether SeaWorld will be able to recover from this PR disaster is whether it is actually treating the killer whales well.”

So SeaWorld put him in touch with a pair of veterinarians for the company — Todd Robeck and Chris Dold.

“At the end of my conversation with the … SeaWorld representatives, they mentioned that Naomi Rose’s work studying the whales was inferior to theirs because whales in the wild are viewed ‘from about a hundred yards away’ and whales spend 95 percent of their lives in the wild.

“If there was a severe problem with animal treatment at SeaWorld, then numerous high level vets would step down. Since this is not happening, I feel confident in recommending the stock again.”

The TEDx Talk released Monday was entitled “Let’s Throw Shamu a Retirement Party!” with Rose urging the gradual phasing out of exhibits and shows featuring orcas.

Meanwhile, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals announced a series of eight San Diego protests mainly downtown and in Balboa Park.

Los Angeles-based PETA outreach coordinator Eric Deardorff was listed as the organizer of the San Diego protests.

“We need help handing out leaflets and encouraging passers-by to check out the project,” said an email to supporters. “We will provide you with a free PETA T-shirt (so be sure to RSVP!), and all materials will be provided.”

The first was set for 10:30 a.m.–6:30 p.m. Wednesday (May 27) at the intersection of Broadway and Third Avenue.

Others were to be Thursday at the intersection of Broadway and Second Avenue, Saturday at Balboa Park, Sunday near the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon finish line, Tuesday in Balboa Park, Thursday (June 4) downtown and Friday (June 5) again downtown.

The final protest was set for Saturday, June 6, at Balboa Park (on El Prado, between the Plaza de Panama and Bea Evenson fountains).

Deardorff did not respond to a request for comment.

At Mountain View High School in Bend this week, “Blackfish” and SeaWorld were topics for a literature and composition class.

Instructor Alana Dusan posted these assignments:

  • Tues: Brainstorm for Blackfish essay
  • Wed: Write intro and begin body 1
  • Thurs: Finish body 1
  • Fri: Write body 2 and begin body 3

“As a class,” she wrote, “we will be reading, viewing, listening, discussing, and taking notes on the following sources regarding the controversy that surrounds SeaWorld’s practices. You will be taking notes on each source to gather evidence, as well as taking notes on our discussions that will help sculpt your position, counterarguments, and rebuttals. You will be writing a multi-paragraph argumentative essay in response to the prompt.”

The prompt was: “How Should SeaWorld respond to the allegations made by Blackfish?”

Dusan, a 10th-grade teacher, told Times of San Diego that her SeaWorld unit was designed before the TEDx talk at Bend Senior High School.

“It was purely just coincidence,” she said, “but also clear that this is a hot, relevant topic for these kids to work with.”