[1][2] In the 1970s, the question of geographical ownership (between England and France) was left undecided and was instead considered part of 'the provisional equidistance line for the continental shelf'.

[3] The reef, inclusive of the area between the Devon coastline and Start Point, is home to many different fauna that have been the subject of scientific studies from 1895 to the present day.

[citation needed] Research has also been conducted to test the metallic pollution of the sediments around the Eddystone Rocks, using mussels exposed underwater for 60 days in order to collect the data.

[5] During the years 1877 to 1878, a correspondence between the Corporation of Trinity House to the Board of Trade was engaged in order to discuss the possible destruction of the reef as opposed to restoring the Eddystone Lighthouse.

Due to the pressing economical and architectural issues, this correspondence discussed the proposal put forward by engineer T, P. Aston to blast the rocks away to allow ships to pass through into the English Channel, thereby rendering the presence of a lighthouse unnecessary.

However, a counterproposal to reinforce the rocks surrounding the lighthouse and to improve the structure of the architecture itself 'could not be executed for less than £120,000, and the time required to complete this work was complicated by the small window of opportunity the tides offered around the Eddystone reefs.

[citation needed] In the final letters of correspondence, Robin Allen of Trinity House confirmed that they as a corporation were not in a position to expend any 'public money [to] do away with such a sea-mark' as the Eddystone'.

Using a geographical scope around the Eddystone Reef to as far as Start Point, a study was conducted on the relationship between the fauna found there and the influence of bottom-deposits as an environment for ecosystems.

[7] In these areas, Allen's findings indicated a prevalence in fauna due to the environment created by the composition of the bottom deposit (sand, fine gravel, and root-fibers) as well as the untouched reef deep below the surface.

[8] Their study concluded that there were large bio-volumes of the protozoan group which, due to their transformation to phytoplankton carbon, suggested the ciliates become a source of food for 'pelagic predators' in the waters around the Eddystone Rocks.

[8] A study conducted in 2000, using benthic by-catch of beam trawl surveys, found that echinoderms are the dominant invertebrate species in the region around the Eddystone Rocks.

Rogers indicated a few important aspects of the environment for the distribution and diversity of marine life: the depth of the water and substrate of the Channel floor correlated to the amount of macroepibenthic echinoderms found.

[13] This means that under Article 13, the rocks themselves, since they can't sustain human habitation or economic life of its own, are not treated like other maritime areas in the legal constitutions of ownership.