Dominic Flint

I represent the members of the Marine Conservation Society on the Steering Group.  Our vision is to have seas that are fit for wildlife to thrive in and for people to enjoy, and seas that will support future generations with abundant resources. As the MCS is now represented on all the regional MCZ projects I hope to bring our members and staffs vast knowledge of the marine environment and conservation projects to Finding Sanctuary to help us achieve the best workable set of MCZs for the South West.

I work as a self employed commercial diver and PADI Assistant Instructor and started diving with BSAC in the early 1980’s,  so have over 25 years of diving experience around the world and especially in Devon and the South West.  Through both work and volunteer Seasearch dives I have had the privilege of experiencing the beauty and variety of the marine habitats in our seas and around the South West.  

The complexity of the marine environment I saw whilst diving lead me to want to understand what makes it work and through studying Marine Biology at Nottingham University and Masters in Applied Marine Sciences at the University of Plymouth I have gained some understanding of the complex human use and habitat issues that we will need to consider in Finding Sanctuary.

Over the past decade I have worked on marine and fisheries conservation projects abroad and in the UK as well as as a fisheries observer in Antarctica. Since 2006 I have been involved with the mapping and conservation of seagrass habitats in the South West and in Torbay in particular. I have also worked on GIS projects so appreciate the complexity of the data side of the Finding Sanctuary project.

I have been a member of the MCS since the mid 1990’s and the Chair of the MCS Plymouth Local Group since 2006.