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  • A volunteer helps to restore oyster reefs at Florida's Mosquito Lagoon, part of the Indian River Lagoon restoration project.
  • The project starts on land, where volunteers help make "oyster mats" by tying shells to environmentally safe mesh.
  • More than 9,200 volunteers have created 8,200 mats since the project began in 2005.
  • In addition to making and deploying the mats, volunteers rake the "dead margins" (piles of dead oyster shells).
  • Volunteers enjoyed being out in a stunning setting with dolphins and osprey feeding around them.
  • A hydrologic excavator raked 12 sites in two days, a job that would have taken volunteers two years to complete!
  • From the air, you can see restored reef beneath the water's surface. More than 1,400 oyster mats were installed.
  • Finished oyster mats lie beneath the water's surface.
  • In Indian River Lagoon, a total of 20 acres of reef have been restored with oyster mats so far.
Florida Oyster reef Restoration