| Wade Doak | |
| Birth Name: | Wade Thomas Doak |
| Birth Date: | 23 February 1940 |
| Birth Place: | Christchurch, New Zealand |
| Death Place: | Ngunguru, New Zealand |
| Education: | University of Canterbury |
| Occupation: | French language teacher at Wellsford High School[1] |
Wade Thomas Doak (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]
. The New Zealand Diver's Handbook . Marine reserves and coastal conservation . Bill Ballantine (biologist) . Reed . Auckland . 1993 . 15 . Doak . Wade . 11 August 2020.