Park Board conduct "a large-scale scientific study on the welfare of captive housed cetaceans" as a way of assessing "the complex societal issue of captive cetaceans". He also suggested that the Park Board require the aquarium to release an annual report on the state of its cetaceans. In the media, the Gaydos report was widely received as a positive review of the aquarium's practices and the Vancouver Aquarium also received support from prominent philanthropists and politicians, as well as four former Vancouver mayors. The Monterey Bay Aquarium and the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, California also spoke out in favour of the Vancouver Aquarium's cetacean program, citing its importance for scientific research. After a long public debate that ended with the presentation of the Gaydos report and two days of public hearings, the Vancouver Park Board announced in August 2014 that it intended to enact a by-law to ban breeding of cetaceans at the Vancouver Aquarium, and it tasked its staff with drafting an amendment to the existing by-law regulating cetaceans at the aquarium. Vancouver Aquarium CEO Dr. John Nightingale criticized the decision in a public letter, stating that the decision "was not based on the facts or science presented" and that it did not take into consideration "testimony from dozens of the world’s scientific community, including experts in animal welfare and animal cognition.". Following a defeat in the elections to Park Board as part of the 2014 civic elections, a majority of the Park Board commissioners, in their last session, voted against enacting an amendment to the by-law. Federal law banning captivity of cetaceans In 2019, the Ending the Captivity of Whales and Dolphins Act became law in Canada. Two facilities would be affected, Marineland of Canada and the Vancouver Aquarium. When passed in June 2019, Marineland was reported to have 61 cetaceans, while the Vancouver Aquarium had just one dolphin remaining. The law has a grandfather clause, permitting those cetaceans already in captivity to remain where they are, but breeding and further acquisition of cetaceans is prohibited, subject to limited exceptions. Animal cruelty investigation In 2022, the BC SPCA opened an investigation into the Vancouver Aquarium, following a report by the Vancouver Humane Society in regards to concerning animal behaviour and conditions. Footage obtained by the Vancouver Humane Society showed African penguins in a small enclosure, unable to escape public view, standing for long periods of