Wade Doak is an internationally known marine biologist, dolphin researcher, and explorer. He was a language teacher with a passion for diving when in 1969 he discovered a stash of coins when diving on a shipwreck. Treasure salvage allowed him to devote his life to studying and photographing the 'blue planet', and he has published 19 books about the ocean and its inhabitants, including A Photographic Guide to Sea Fishes of NZ (New Holland). With his wife Jan, an accomplished underwater photographer, and son Brady, an underwater camera operator, Wade has worked on the television natural history series Wild South and Deep Blue. Wade was awarded the Queen's Service Medal for his services to marine conservation in 2012.