Ten teenagers learned to scuba dive — then rebuilt an oyster reef that came alive in three months

Coffin Bay in South Australia was once so rich in native oysters that its first colonial settlement was called Oyster Town; dredging destroyed the reefs a century ago. Now ten students, aged about 15 to 17, from two regional high schools have tested whether the reef can return. Trained and certified as scuba divers free through a state citizen-science grant, they placed 28 crates of cleaned native oyster shells across eight sites. Three months later, every single crate had recruited oysters — up to 2,388 on one — and 3,342 animals from 68 species had moved in. The study, in People and Nature, helped launch the Eyre Peninsula's first oyster-reef restoration.

SDG 14 · Life below water — Mechanism: community action