Wade Doak | |
---|---|
Born | Wade Thomas Doak 23 February 1940 Christchurch, New Zealand |
Died | 12 September 2019 Ngunguru, New Zealand | (aged 79)
Education | University of Canterbury |
Occupation | French language teacher at Wellsford High School[1] |
Wade Thomas Doak QSM (23 February 1940 – 12 September 2019) was a New Zealand marine conservationist, scuba diver, photographer and filmmaker.[2]
Born in Christchurch, Doak was educated at Christchurch Boys' High School from 1954 to 1958.[3] He began diving in his teens, and met Kelly Tarlton at the Canterbury Underwater Club.[4] In the 1960s, Doak moved to Northland, where he first dove around the Poor Knights Islands with Tarlton.[4] Doak became an acknowledged expert on the marine ecology of the area, and was instrumental in the Poor Knights Islands being made a marine reserve in 1981 and receiving full protection in 1998.[4]
In the 2012 Queen's Birthday and Diamond Jubilee Honours, Doak was awarded the Queen's Service Medal, for services to marine conservation.[5] He died at his home in Ngunguru on 12 September 2019.[6]