The Traditional Owners of the land and sea country are one of Eyrelab’s major sponsors. The Nauo have provided funding to assist with the development of an oyster shell recycling centre, as well as our underwater live-streaming rig for scientific monitoring of our reef restoration sites.

The Department of Environment and Water provided Eyrelab with a $15,000 citizen science small grant to kickstart our research back in 2023. Now, with the necessity of more oyster reefs to build resiliency against harmful algal blooms, the state government is investing $1.8M in Eyrelab’s research-based restoration methods. This funding will assist us with developing 25 1-hectare reefs across South Australia, which will help us unravel the key to larger scale restorations in the future.

The Whyalla Dive Shop is a key piece of the puzzle when it comes to how we get our in-water work done. They enable Eyrelab to get underwater providing the equipment, training, and personnel to make it all happen.

Cutty’s Tours is a pioneer when it comes to marine tourism in South Australia, as it was the first glass-bottom boat in the state to begin operations. Cutty’s has provided Eyrelab with vessel support, enabling us to view and access our sites - without having to get in the water.

Our restoration work started as a collaborative research project with the University of Adelaide’s Southern Seas Ecology Lab. Dr. Dominic Mcafee and his team provides the scientific rigour that guides the methods and madness of marine restoration ecology.

Eyrelab’s marine restoration work was selected as a 2025 Bronze recipient for the Australian Geographic Awards for Nature. The $20,000 grant will be going towards the development of the oyster shell recycling centre - a key piece of infrastructure required to upscale the work we’ve done to date.