PAUL JACKSON
Chair of Board of Trustees
Paul Jackson’s fascination with fish was sparked when his family relocated to Greece for six months when he was just 9 years old. Snorkelling with his father in the warm waters of the Mediterranean, he was taken with the abundance of marine life he saw every day. A further holiday to California brought him his first sighting of a shark and he was smitten. Years of tropical fishkeeping were to follow!
A gap year trip to Australia in 1989 provided an opportunity to dive the Great Barrier Reef and that, in turn, led him to undertake his PADI qualification.
Whilst Paul’s education (BA in Economics and Politics and MSc in Charity Finance) took him to London, where he is Group Chief Executive of The Hospital Saturday Fund (a charity), each holiday is spent exploring the reefs and oceans of the world. Desperate to dive with manta rays but with a young family, Paul made a solo trip to the Maldives in 2011. Fate played a hand and Paul ended up spending his entire holiday on Guy Stevens’ research boat in Hanifaru Bay. A week of observing and snorkelling with mantas and whale sharks made up Paul’s mind; he was determined to use his knowledge of the charity sector to help these magnificent animals.
In December 2011, Paul was appointed Chairman of the Manta Trust. Recently, Paul has spent some time in Cancun, Mexico snorkelling with the large numbers of mantas and whale sharks that aggregate there in the summer. Paul has also returned to Hanifaru Bay a number of times since 2011. In fact, in 2018 he experienced the amazing spectacle of 200 manta rays cyclone-feeding in the Bay. This wonderful experience has made Paul even more passionate about supporting the Manta Trust.